The start of a new year generally brings with it a sense of optimism and fresh activity. Hope springs eternal for the sports fan with the prospect of a new season while for investors the start of a new year offers similar opportunities and concerns.
Will last year's performance be repeated? Where will next year's strong performers come from?
For the record last year was a pretty good one for a balanced investor - the Vanguard Balanced Index fund delivered returns of 13% - while the average growth super fund returned a respectable 8.6% after two years of double digit returns.
In their more rational, reflective moments sports fans know that no amount of zealous support or one-eyed optimism supersedes a genuine understanding of where your team really ranks. The scoreboard soon enough provides the hard reality check.
For investors that equates to understanding both where your portfolio is invested and where you need to get it in order to fund your retirement lifestyle.
In basic terms it comes down to the value of having a financial plan that takes into account your individual circumstances - in particular your income needs.
People who have their own self-managed super fund tend to be more engaged and aware of where their super is invested than typical super fund members where engagement level is understandably lower.
In many ways the SMSF sector will lead the way as the superannuation system matures because almost half of SMSFs are already in pension mode and increasingly members will be drawing money out of their fund to pay themselves a pension rather than contributing extra to the fund.
Yet the discussion around superannuation still tends to be centred around the level of account balance at the time of retirement.
Perhaps this is just a reflection of the super system not being fully mature but there is a growing sense of urgency that superannuation needs to be a retirement income system more than an accumulation vehicle.
In financial planning terms this translates to having a better understanding of what income your super portfolio can generate and whether that is enough to fund your retirement lifestyle.
Investing for yield is certainly nothing new for many SMSF trustees - it at least partly explains the heavy exposure to Australian dividend paying shares in SMSF portfolios - but that cannot not be the answer for all super fund members.
So when you are looking at your super fund statement showing the account balance for the period ending December 2014 take the time to look at it through the frame of how much income it can provide.
That is super's equivalent of a scoreboard reality check.
Source: www.vanguardinvestments.com.au
Will last year's performance be repeated? Where will next year's strong performers come from?
For the record last year was a pretty good one for a balanced investor - the Vanguard Balanced Index fund delivered returns of 13% - while the average growth super fund returned a respectable 8.6% after two years of double digit returns.
In their more rational, reflective moments sports fans know that no amount of zealous support or one-eyed optimism supersedes a genuine understanding of where your team really ranks. The scoreboard soon enough provides the hard reality check.
For investors that equates to understanding both where your portfolio is invested and where you need to get it in order to fund your retirement lifestyle.
In basic terms it comes down to the value of having a financial plan that takes into account your individual circumstances - in particular your income needs.
People who have their own self-managed super fund tend to be more engaged and aware of where their super is invested than typical super fund members where engagement level is understandably lower.
In many ways the SMSF sector will lead the way as the superannuation system matures because almost half of SMSFs are already in pension mode and increasingly members will be drawing money out of their fund to pay themselves a pension rather than contributing extra to the fund.
Yet the discussion around superannuation still tends to be centred around the level of account balance at the time of retirement.
Perhaps this is just a reflection of the super system not being fully mature but there is a growing sense of urgency that superannuation needs to be a retirement income system more than an accumulation vehicle.
In financial planning terms this translates to having a better understanding of what income your super portfolio can generate and whether that is enough to fund your retirement lifestyle.
Investing for yield is certainly nothing new for many SMSF trustees - it at least partly explains the heavy exposure to Australian dividend paying shares in SMSF portfolios - but that cannot not be the answer for all super fund members.
So when you are looking at your super fund statement showing the account balance for the period ending December 2014 take the time to look at it through the frame of how much income it can provide.
That is super's equivalent of a scoreboard reality check.
Source: www.vanguardinvestments.com.au
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