Australians held $3 TRILLION dollars in super at the end of the September 2020 quarter. This is a pot of gold that no politician is going to be able to keep their hands off going into the future. Super will continue to be the play thing of politicians, and this is why I'd be very weary using super as your only (or even main) investment vehicle. The posts in this thread touch on it, retrospective rule changes etc.
I'm 33 and have about $140k in super. Stepping that out at an average growth rate of 5% and taking into account contributions, I should be looking at a member balance of well over $2m at the age of 60. However, I currently hold many multiples the value of my super in assets outside the superannuation environment. The reason being I have NO IDEA what superannuation law will look like in 20-30 years time, but I am betting there is no way those laws will be more favourable than what they are now.
I'm happy to pay some extra tax along the way outside of superannuation to make sure I have access to the underlying capital whenever I like. Flexibility and ownership of your capital vs extra tax payable. I foresee a time when our superannuation becomes an annual stipend with lump sums outlawed and maximum pension withdrawals per annum introduced. I don't want to be handcuffed in that way.
Apologies for the rant, but I just wanted to put my two cents in and give those who are younger and investing everything into the super environment something to consider. IMO that strategy holds a lot of legislative risk because the laws in 20-30 years time when you are wanting to access that capital may be very different to how they are now, even with the recent changes re the $1.6m transfer balance cap etc.
