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Articles by Josh Funder
Flexible access to housing, funding and care, not new taxes, is the way to meet the Aged Care funding gap
The minister for Aged Care has announced yet another aged care commission and is exploring new taxes on working Australians to support an ageing population. Meanwhile the Leader of the Opposition is open to increased self-funded contributions to meet the costs of retirement but has ruled out any form of "death tax". Bipartisan commitment to older Australians is what we really need, not another commission.
Bitcoin in an SMSF
Attention has recently been given to the addition of non-traditional investments such as bitcoin in SMSF portfolios. Before doing so, SMSF trustees should take steps to understand the asset class and most importantly obtain professional advice on how they can safely implement digital assets into portfolios to ensure they meet all their fiduciary obligations as SMSF trustees and that no issues arise during annual audits.
How to really engage young people with super
Young people play an important role in co-creating solutions to Australia's superannuation and retirement challenges - but engaging them remains an ongoing challenge. Superannuation is a complex topic for most, but it is especially confusing for young people who have a long way to go before retirement and who might not be as financially literate.
Investing in renewables - a strong diversifier to traditional assets in portfolios
The election of a Labor government, as well as a large band of Green and independent candidates all supporting action to limit climate change, is set to move Australia more into line with governments around the world where the race to net zero is intensifying. This will have a substantial influence on real asset investments. Despite the exceptional challenges of COVID-19, real assets have delivered robust income streams for Australian superannuation investors.
Is home equity the way to meet the gap in aged care funding?
At the last election, older Australian voters determined the outcome, sending a strong signal not to burden their residential property with new taxes. Since then, those same senior citizens have had their health, incomes and hopes hit hard by a pandemic, lockdown and endless bad news like the Aged Care Royal Commission. Moreover, the latest federal budget provided no significant new funding to meet the huge gap in aged care costs.
How does your super fund invest your money?
Like pretty much every other working Australian I have a super fund, and as I approach the twilight of my active working life my super portfolio represents a sizeable chunk of my nuclear family's assets. I'm happy with the returns my current fund has provided over the years. In the past I've had some dud funds - partly my fault by being in the wrong portfolio and partly because the fees were outrageous and I just wasn't engaged enough to worry about it.
Household Capital
Low interest rates, lack of satisfactory action on deeming, an Age Pension that hasn’t changed significantly in line with spiralling living costs … each of these can contribute to a retirement lifestyle that doesn’t quite meet expectations. Retirees typically fund their retirement using a combination of savings in superannuation and other investments, as well as the Age Pension.
The high cost of tapping the bank of mum and dad
Despite dire predictions of plummeting house prices and diminished home equity in 2020, after a brief and inconsequential decline, the property market has again taken off. This time however, it’s different. Increases in property prices are not concentrated in state capitals as usual. One thing the COVID-19 pandemic taught us is that people can work from (just about) anywhere. As a result, the current property boom is more widespread, taking in regional towns as well as capital cities.
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Australia’s retirement funding challenge - AdviserVoice
25 Mar 2019 From Household Capital Australia is facing a major retirement funding challenge. We are living longer than ever, yet it’s becoming increasingly clear that many people don’t have enough superannuation to fund a comfortable retirement. Australia’s baby boomers are hitting retirement. Over the coming years, 5.5 million people born between 1946 and 1964 will retire; for many of those, compulsory super started too late into their working lives.
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