Welcome To 2021
I am sure we are all delighted to see the back of 2020 but then again I am sure there are some challenges to be faced in 2021 of a possibly similar scale. With the start of a new year, it’s a good time to think about your super.
Although, it’s not such a silly question to ask, is it mine? There is still a large proportion of the working population who do not really own their super as they give it very little attention. And with the government’s current regulatory program it does appear that the government is potentially indicating their future intention to own your asset.
So why is it important to pay attention to super? Here are a few opinions you should keep in mind.
- Anyone working full time and not paying attention to their super is essentially reducing their accumulation of asset by half at age forty.
- Time in the market is so financially powerful and yet most people don’t worry about their lack of attention to super for the first 20 years of their career.
- Just an extra 1% additional in your super for 25 years results in an increase in your projected income in retirement of over 20% per annum in today’s dollars for the first 20 years of retirement.
In short, someone else seems to be benefiting more from your super than you are. If you do not start paying attention to the management of your asset, I can assure you someone else is enjoying your benefits.
Is It Someone Else’s Fault?
Compulsory super was introduced in 1992 and the government has had numerous attempts at sorting out problems since. I suspect there will be ongoing regulation this year and next as different initiatives by the government play out:
- There exists an APRA heat map, intended to benchmark good versus dud funds but limited to MySuper. Visit here if you want to read the information paper.
- The ATO has been given a budget to develop a product comparator tool for use by the public. This initiative along with the existence of the APRA heat map might represent significant interference around super being a personal or a community asset.
- The government intends to staple a super product to an individual for their first job, in an effort to make sure employees do not end up with multiple super accounts.
- The government wants to have the right to act on their conclusions around the performance of product and, at present, if a particular product is underperforming on MySuper, the government can stop them accepting future contributions.
Personally I believe super is a personal asset and maybe, as a regulatory force for super, the government has proven themselves to be less than competent since 1992.
Market Indicators
I am of the view that there will be a significant drop in global markets in 2021, most likely between April and September. Market factors considered in my prediction are:
- Economic damage globally, caused by the ongoing mismanagement of the pandemic by various governments.
- Global political tensions across major nations.
- Global trade tensions, some of which emanate from the above political tensions.
- Social unrest in major economies, possibly triggered by underlying social tensions between the haves and have-nots.
- Economic structural change caused by the introduction of technology and climate change.
- Record level of global government debt.
- Record levels of domestic debt across the developed economies.
- The fact that the ongoing global expectation of, let’s say, annual growth of 3% is actually unsustainable.
- Overall extremely poor economic management by governments in trying to sustain their power as opposed to dealing with economic challenges that only become more complicated.
What Should I Do?
Get Started
Check out the SuperWiser website and complete a free Super Review. From there you can decide if it is in your best interest to obtain strategic super advice to optimise your super asset.
If you have any questions, our free call number is 1800 467 467.
A New Idea On Super From The Government
Recently there is a new initiative from the government focused on the affordability of financial advice which would benefit 80% of the workforce who cannot afford to engage with a financial planner. ASIC is examining personal scaled advice seriously for the first time since super was originally introduced.
“Our first public output for the unmet advice needs project is a consultation paper, which seeks to gather information from industry participants (licensees and individual advisers) to help us understand what impediments [or] issues exist in relation to them providing limited and affordable personal advice to consumers,” the regulator has said.
ASIC added that they are focused on “whether it can assist industry [to] overcome some of the barriers it faces in providing good quality ‘limited’ and affordable personal advice through actions within its regulatory purview”.
That is exactly the service that SuperWiser delivers. SuperWiser provides limited personal advice at a very affordable price.
Don’t Wait To Get Started
I doubt there is anyone born who has not faced an opportunity that they later regret not taking.
Super is one such opportunity – the longer you wait, the less you make.
Every individual by the time they turn 30 should be thinking about strategies to ensure that they are a dollar millionaire by the time they reach retirement. SuperWiser can provide you with the right information to help you make the best choices for your circumstances:
- Lowest costs.
- Appropriate contributions.
- A personalised investment strategy.
- Highest returns.
- The setting of goals and objectives.
- The ability to monitor your progress.
- An improved understanding on how the rich make more and more money
While super appears overcomplicated, SuperWiser simplifies the process by having a database of around 40 or more products including all the details around peer group performance based upon costs and investment returns.
SuperWiser assists you in identifying what you want to do based upon your personal circumstances and then showing you the options so you can see the difference in $’s to be accumulated.
SuperWiser is the new normal in super servicing should you want to optimise your super at the point of retirement.
Why SuperWiser?
There is a way of managing money in creating wealth. SuperWiser helps to ensure that your super is optimised and performing as well as it possibly can. Here’s why you should use SuperWiser:
- Some years ago the government introduced MySuper. It was touted as a solution to certain super issues, partly because it required applying for a MySuper license. If you start to examine government re-regulation since the Royal Commission in 2018, it appears that little was fixed.
- The annual publication of investment returns by product presents misleading data.
- SuperWiser not only compares the performance of default options but actually examines investment choice menus by product to construct a mix of portfolios from high growth to conservative to compete with the level of investment returns from MySuper.
- Any decision you need to make around your super needs to be a reliable and unambiguous source of information and also needs to examine a width of options available from the market.
- SuperWiser makes the complicated to be dead simple.
Optimising Your Own Super
If you are to achieve your super goal, you must spend time on optimising it. With SuperWiser, you can complete a free Super Review to get an understanding of your current situation prior to deciding whether it is in your best interest to obtain strategic super advice aim at optimising your outcomes.
If you decide to obtain strategic advice and service from SuperWiser, you will find yourself surprised by how helpful the application is in guiding you through the implementation of the advice.
Is SuperWiser Affordable?
SuperWiser is primed full of the appropriate information to compare different super solutions. SuperWiser is a leading edge application in presenting personal scaled advice to a needy market. Prices range from $0 to $220 (inc GST) depending on the advice required, making SuperWiser high value/low cost.
What To Do From Here?
Check your last super statement and consider how long it has taken you to accumulate your current asset and whether or not you should have got there faster.
Complete your free Super Review. If you have any questions call 1800 467 467.
Super Optimisation
Most services offered by super providers are designed to optimise your product provider’s revenue, and not necessarily yours. Personalised service is hard to come by because it involves higher overheads and little returns for product providers. In fact, due to the costs involved, obtaining holistic financial advice is out of reach for at least 80% of the public, most of whom would definitely benefit from it. Instead product providers target individuals with high balances or some who need significant insurances.
SuperWiser makes it possible for that 80% of the public to access personal scaled advice at a very affordable price.
How Does SuperWiser Manage This?
SuperWiser is an application that compares data from more than 40 well-known super products against your current super set-up. It uses an actuarial algorithm to calculate the benefit of different funds based on which service model you’re in:
- Corporate Super
- Personal Retail
- Industry Fund
SuperWiser can help explain where there is room for improvement and if there is a better super set-up out there for you. It provides parameters for performance, thus enabling your ability to monitor your progress against your stated goals and objectives.
Should you decide to proceed with SuperWiser’s recommendations, the application will guide you through each step of the implementation process until completion. And for peace of mind, SuperWiser’s client support team is available should you need it.
Welcome to a new world of personal scaled advice.
Our Approved Product List
SuperWiser is an application owned by a company called Super Simpler Pty Ltd. It has been developed carefully over 5 years and is designed to allow you to play before you pay. The full fee for service is only $220 (inc GST).
With SuperWiser you can always be assured that you’re getting the right current advice because analysis is based on an approved product list which is constantly updated should any changes occur in terms of fees, insurance or product design.
The maintenance of the Approved Product List within SuperWiser is a key responsibility and a necessary function under an Australian Financial Services License. SuperWiser operates under the license held by AXIS Financial Group Pty Ltd (AFSL 233680).
What To Do?
Start by completing a free Super Review to determine if it is in your best interest to obtain strategic super advice to optimise your super outcomes.
The Federal Budget 2020
This year the government did not make changes at all to the details of superannuation in Australia, but they did introduce a new initiative called “Your Future, Your Super”. It’s another measure that again wrestles the personal responsibility for your super away from the individual and has your choices controlled by someone else.
The limitation in this initiative is that it only examines the default service settings for your super without looking at alternative options that might present more value to you as far as maximising your balance at retirement.
In effect, the government is progressing with initiatives that disengage you from your super as a wealth creation strategy. To optimise your own super asset, you must pay it some attention.
The development of new technology, such as SuperWiser, make it easier than ever before to optimise your super and provides you with more opportunity to make more super dollars and improve your lifestyle in retirement.
Make Yourself SuperWiser
The truth is that super is not as complicated as you think. The financial services industry has made it complicated with a wide array of products and services that appear beneficial but aren’t aimed at optimising your super value.
Finding information can seem difficult, sources of information are usually less than reliable because of potential for bias. Unfortunately this often means you are more likely to make the decision that is in someone else’s best interest and not yours.
Where someone provides you with meaningful information for consideration, the first step is always to pause and filter that information to the point where you have sufficient knowledge to make a decision in your best interest.
Informed decisions always work out better than blind guesswork.
Straightforward Information?
This is not always easy to find but then maybe it is hard to locate a source of truth in this modern world. Let’s start with the statement that a key initiative in improving your super is finding quality information.
The government has presented quite a few initiatives in making various attempts to improve the value delivered by financial services companies around super. There has been the introduction of a MySuper Investment Default some ten years ago which in theory should have improved investment returns.
A comparison for MySuper investment returns would indicate the following range between bottom and top performers:
Performer | Investment Option | Annual Projected Income in Retirement to Age 67 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age 25 Salary $60,000 | Age 35 Salary $80,000 | Age 45 Salary $85,000 | ||
| Balance $20,000 | Balance $75,000 | Balance $120,000 | ||
| Top | Factory Default -MySuper | $37,300 | $30,600 | $23,300 |
| Bottom | Factory Default -MySuper | $30,500 | $25,200 | $19,400 |
| Annual Difference | $6,800 Plus 22% | $5,400 Plus 21% | $3,900 Plus 20% | |
Figures obtained from AXIS Financial Group Pty Ltd as at 30/06/2020
By using a products investment choice menu, how does the top MySuper investment strategy compare with what is the top performing SuperWiser recommended portfolio:
| Performer | Investment Option | Annual Projected Income in Retirement to Age 67 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age 25 Salary $60,000 | Age 35 Salary $80,000 | Age 45 Salary $85,000 | ||
| Balance $20,000 | Balance $75,000 | Balance $120,000 | ||
| Top | Factory Default -MySuper | $37,300 | $30,600 | $23,300 |
| Top | SuperWiser – High Growth | $44,300 | $35,500 | $25,900 |
| Annual Difference | $7,000 Plus Another 19% | $4,900 Plus Another 16% | $2,600 Plus Another 11% | |
Figures obtained from AXIS Financial Group Pty Ltd as at 30/06/2020
The latest government initiative announced within the federal budget still focuses purely on the MySuper Investment Default. This has become the standard default for most people and no product will tell you about their comparable performance with other MySuper defaults (unless it is to their advantage) and most certainly government initiative is only focused on the MySuper service model and not looking at other non-standard investment options within products.
Where To From Here?
Upon demonstrating SuperWiser to one large product provider, a senior executive commented that this innovation is unusable for them as the calculations would identify how many other products deliver more value. The executive unwisely commented “we would have to explain to the board why we have lost all our clients”.
The financial services industry is known for its high fees and its poor delivery of service value. In terms of delivering value at an individual account level, product providers see this as an impossible ask involving the recruitment of too many people and presenting too many organisational complications.
Clearly technology is the answer but any service technology from super product providers is likely to focus on retaining members, not adding value. Which means technology needs to come from those who have no ownership in any product.
Try SuperWiser
SuperWiser allows you to examine what you are currently doing against what you could do for yourself in managing your super. Minimal information is required to get started.
As an authorised representative under an AFSL license as provided by AXIS Financial Group Pty Ltd (ABN 21 092 889 579, AFSL 233680), SuperWiser proceeds to request some personal information so the initial calculation can be confirmed. This requires an authority to access information as provided by your current product and as required under current regulation. As always around super, regulation must be followed.
The next stage involves some explanation as to where you can do better by comparing the appropriate elements of your current super against what might be better by way of cost, target market return, target outperformance return and then salary sacrifice. The proposition will be the provision of advice and an implementation service of said advice, all for the affordable price of $220 (inc GST).
Get started by completing a free Super Review. If you have any questions call 1800 467 467.