the majority or workers have no choice, their super is locked in... until retirement.. this story relates to a balanced fund...and look how poorly they are performing
wonder how the high growth, high risk funds performed....they would be decimated the tax office takes 15% of the contribution on your behalf upfront, before any investment is made....then the fund managers take their commissions and cuts, then the accounting and auditing and compliance costs..
some self employed people are in a much better position..they either run their own super funds....or the younger ones have no super...
others are looking after their retirement, outside of the super regime....they are managing all their own assets and investments....I suggest most are doing far better, than any of the superfunds... Super Funds are a bloated industry, that counts on continuing funds coming into their hands, every month....by law..from the workers...its a bonanza for the fund managers...
not all self employed people are capable of handling their own affairs....
I know a couple of SE people, they had huge amounts in their superfunds, I had tried to get them to balance the investments into equal amounts of 30% in each asset class, of property, stocks and cash... all had at least one or two properties, and some cash, but the bulk of their investments were in shares...
one was madly buying more shares in 2007 and 2008, every fall in price triggered a bigger investment...they thought they were getting bargains, averaging down
I warned the GFC would be a W, rather than a V, and it could last 5 years or more....
what was once a 5 million retirement fund, has now been decimated only the property valued at a million has held its value,
the cash was wasted buying more shares, they have lost over 2 million on the stock portfolio..or 50% or more of that investment class....even after averaging down...
their retirement plans are looking dreadful.... reality has finally hit them....they are grateful they held the properties, and now wished they had held more property, they have lost all faith in the stockmarket.... they are considering selling what is left in stocks... and putting that result, into property and cash.....
one held a couple of properties outside of their superfund those props gained over 30% in the same period... but they have no intention of selling them... the rental income will contribute to their retirement income at this stage that is all they have..... there is only a miniscule income from dividends
ps these props were gained, when their salary income was in the highest tax brackets, so negative gearing to reduce their tax was the incentive to buy....the props have been positively geared for many years now..
interestingly, those conservative investors, that manage their own funds, with the 30% split into the main asset classes, have faired the best....property has done well, cash has had its ups and downs, they have recorded losses from the stock market....but not too much...majority of shares were purchased many years ago, and held....they are down from the 2007 highs...but still way above the cost price..
not sure what the fund managers, come cowboys, did with the balanced funds, to record such a low return....
I believe a lot more people will continue to move their money out of the managed superfunds, and manage it themselves. Stockmarkets have taken a huge hit, and most fund managers had most of their clients money invested in that asset class. So a double whammy for investors. No wonder property is holding up.
