Pension Age may move to 70

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Originally Posted by FeatherWeightDriver

Are you in a SMSF or retail fund?

If it is retail please share who you are with and what plan so we can all be as successful as you have (apparently) been ;)

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I am not in a SMF but in the good old Colonial First State - no financial advisor as he got sacked over his attitude during the GFC of leaving money where it was so I took over looking after my own super- I like many others took a huge hit.

Within CFS I watch about 6 funds and move money according but in the rising market over the past few years I tend to stay in the riskier higher return funds - geared funds that do have a bit of volatility.

In my main fund - $10000 invested on 1 Dec 2012 is now worth $15,400 and that includes a huge drop in the middle of the year when the US Fed Governor opened his yap about stopping money printing in the US and the $10000 invested dropped from about $13800 to $11100 in a week. So over the short term the results are even better - $11100 on 13 June 13 to $15400 today.

Oh I also have trailing commissions coming back to me after I pay a fee of $300.

If you sit back you will get your 10% but do it yourself and you will do better. My returns overall have tripled since I got rid of my finance advisor - yep I have made some mistakes and I lost $10K in the downturn mid year when I got my timing wrong but you take the wins and the losses and as long as the wins are better than the losses that is good.

In a long term dropping market I run to the Cash Management Fund for safety.

Garry

Before I retired, I talked to a lot of financial ' Advisers' , all of them , from independent to bank to credit union, were only after their bit of the cake, they didn't really care about my investment, apart from they got their cut. I remained with the APSS, the Post Office Super, because I could control where it was invested [ market or cash], I read the financial pages , and when the GFC was forecast , by our local guru, I put my money in to cash, capital guaranteed, lost nothing. Gained very little. The APSS has changed its investments from medium risk, to high risk, in the market, with a change in management. The jury is still out on that. I do have the option of keeping my money in cash, & losing none. My experience is, those who get greedy, need to watch their investment extremely closely, & don't listen to advisers who deliver a message that seems too good to be true. No reputable fund has made a profit of 50%, in my knowledge, Bob

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Originally Posted by bob10

No reputable fund has made a profit of 50%, in my knowledge, Bob

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I just gave you two funds that did more that 50% Sep12 to Sep13. Are they reputable?

Spectrum Super has both of them. If you look at the 1 year column you will see the returns in black and white.
http://www.spectrumsuper.com.au/__da...ummary0913.pdf

I can see four funds that did over 50% with Cololonial First State Firstchoice wholesale super (you may have to click on the performance tab to see the returns. )
Unit prices & performance :: Colonial First State

Can they do it year in year out? Of course they can't. Look at the returns over 2,3,5 years.

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Originally Posted by Gillie

I just gave you two funds that did more that 50% Sep12 to Sep13. Are they reputable?

Spectrum Super has both of them. If you look at the 1 year column you will see the returns in black and white.
http://www.spectrumsuper.com.au/__da...ummary0913.pdf

I can see four funds that did over 50% with Cololonial First State Firstchoice wholesale super (you may have to click on the performance tab to see the returns. )
Unit prices & performance :: Colonial First State

Can they do it year in year out? Of course they can't. Look at the returns over 2,3,5 years.

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Sorry, but I would not touch any of those funds. If sounds too good to be true it normally is. If you have a couple of million dollars, you could cover a loss, but if you are just a small player, you can not afford to take that risk. Bob

Bob - Colonial First State (CFS) is the Commonwealth Bank - not some backyard dodgy solicitor selling super.

My main CFS fund actually made 60.46% in the past year and it has its invests about 10% in cash and 90% in the aust stock market. Its top 10 companies that it holds shares in is:

National Australia Bank Ltd
8.51%
Wesfarmers Ltd
7.79%
Commonwealth Bank Of Australia
7.69%
BHP Billiton Limited
6.71%
Telstra Corp Ltd
6.05%
Westpac Banking Corp
5.18%
ANZ Banking Group
4.90%
QBE Insurance Group Ltd
4.57%
Origin Energy Ltd
4.34%
Macquarie Group Ltd
4.24%



Not exactly fly by night companies.

These returns, in my view highlight just how much financial advisors take out of the returns.

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Originally Posted by garrycol

Bob - Colonial First State (CFS) is the Commonwealth Bank - not some backyard dodgy solicitor selling super.

My main CFS fund actually made 60.46% in the past year and it has its invests about 10% in cash and 90% in the aust stock market. Its top 10 companies that it holds shares in is:

National Australia Bank Ltd
8.51%
Wesfarmers Ltd
7.79%
Commonwealth Bank Of Australia
7.69%
BHP Billiton Limited
6.71%
Telstra Corp Ltd
6.05%
Westpac Banking Corp
5.18%
ANZ Banking Group
4.90%
QBE Insurance Group Ltd
4.57%
Origin Energy Ltd
4.34%
Macquarie Group Ltd
4.24%



Not exactly fly by night companies.

These returns, in my view highlight just how much financial advisors take out of the returns.

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tell me again, did you win or lose out of the GFC? Bob

Hi all.
Well, I for one am not holding up much hope for the future of this country at the moment. The attraction for us 'incomers' is/was the work/play approach to life, and the wonderful scenery and people. Every day I turn on the TV to listen to the news only to then turn it off, depressed at what's happening to this wonderful place... The Australian government is providing amusement for the rest of the world, and whilst they saunter around in their fancy suits throwing crap at each other instead of getting on with the job of running the country, we suffer! The thought of a usable pension for me is non existent, and Im hoping that the sale of my current property when I'm 50 will fund a house on a small block by the sea in whoop whoop where we can hide and live out our lives quietly.. (which we plan to try and buy shortly). If it does not, then we'll sell what we don't need, and hit the road again! What we see here as a poor pension, would be a massive amount in Asia or Africa.
The worst part of it is that when the government are doing what they're suppose to be doing, they do it badly as they're funding stuff overseas, financing silly oversized flyovers (in Adelaide) that cost millions and achieve nothing, funding idiots who wont get of their arses and work etc.... A 'Back To Basics' or 'Common Sense' party is needed where Australia looks after itself for once. We stop all the antics, start paying teachers, cops, ambo's, fireys, nurses etc decent coin. I migrated here... and yes I had to jump thru hoops, fulfil a list of requirements, and spend a lot of money etc, and so should anyone who wants to migrate here. I have worked from day one, as has my wife, I give over 10 hrs a wk back to the community in the form of Volunteer Fire Fighting, and love the place, but it makes me wild to see everything going down hill as it did in the UK and EIRE. So people's... buckle up and prepare for a bumpy ride because something drastic is going to have to happen soon or its only going to get worse!!

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Originally Posted by bob10

Sorry, but I would not touch any of those funds. If sounds too good to be true it normally is. If you have a couple of million dollars, you could cover a loss, but if you are just a small player, you can not afford to take that risk. Bob

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It comes down to how much risk you would like to take on and the time frame of the investment. Hindsight is fantastic, it is alot harder to try and predict what these funds will return as they are all market linked ie they are at the mercy of the markets.

It is not too good to be true, you are taking on alot of risk for the opportunity of a greater return. 60% this year -60% next year this is the reality. Funds like these have alot of volatility. Over the long term you will do quiet well but it will be a roller coaster ride.

Covering a loss is all relative. -40% is -40% whether you have $10 or $1 mill.

The problem today is that many people do not understand Super or investments and many wouldn't have any idea what fund their Super is in. Many people will be in balanced or Moderate funds with no idea what this means and being the default option for many super funds.
I believe there is so much choice out there there is no excuse for holding rubbish and instead invest in quality funds. Where people sold out in the GFC out of growth assets and put their money in cash only to put it back in when the market picked up is ludicrous. Selling down a perfectly good asset cheap to buy it back more expensive does not make any sense and is not a good way to make money.

However, we are all human and no one likes losing money and when we put human emotion into the mix then we need to have a clear and concise investment plan and an understanding of the markets and how they operate so we don't panic. Will we have another crash? Of course we will. When? who knows. No one can pick the highs and the lows. I have heard people will tell you they can or did but I call BS. Economists interpret data and will crystal ball their spin on what they believe will happen as per the data but many economists disagree with each other.

NB I predicted another crash therefore when it happens one day I could say I predicted it. :D

The way I see it is that it places the responsibility on the individual to make the right financial decisions during their lives, which I think is ok for a certain percentage of the population but there is no exact science in securing ones future. There's not many that can predict what is going to happen during their lifetimes ... at least I wasn't born a soothsayer! :D to this point I've done ok but there is no guarantee it will carry on that way for the next 30 years ... there's so many uncontrollable factors that determines the outcome of ones existence :)

The problem with this for me as somebody who by the time I want to retire in 25 or 30 years and won't be entitled to a pension (probably) is not so much myself but the next generation. If they wind up pulling the pension all together in the future, they will have to spend a hell of a lot in education teaching kids the value of money ... which seems to have nearly vanished? Maybe this is all down to parenting but it will take more than a generation to get the message through because as a nation I believe we are heavily set in our ways.

I'm all for foreign aid and helping others but maybe the powers that be can look beyond a four year term and their own reputation and see the benefit of spending a bit more on its own people in the right areas, of which I believe a pension is one. It doesn't seem right to me to penalise those who have worked their whole lives (regardless of wealth ... it's the moral of it) when there is plenty out there that couldn't be bothered getting out of bed yet still get benefits. I'm all for benefits for those who are genuinely trying ... perhaps it's too hard to 'police'? :confused:

Anyway, I think I've gone a bit off track there :D

As for super, I think anyone would be foolish to rely solely on it. For a start it does not keep up with inflation so while you may wind up with a million say, it won't be worth what it was by the time you retire. Other than that, as has already been demonstrated in recent years, that money is not as secure as people think. The old 'bricks and mortar' adage still rings true in 2013 IMO :)

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Originally Posted by bob10

tell me again, did you win or lose out of the GFC? Bob

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As I have already said, like everyone else I lost but have recovered that loss a few times over. However, then, I had a different investment fix, my super was being managed by an advisor and we were in a dropping market.

Not sure what your statement has to do with the current discussion as people were questioning returns over the past year or so not 5-6 years ago.

Garry