WHAT'S ALL THE SUPER NOISE ABOUT?

This week we wanted to spend our few minutes together to ensure that none of you ever get exposed to failings like the investment schemes run by Shield and First Guardian.

Now, if this is news to you, then please don’t feel a need to familiarise yourself with these investments, more so, we want to quickly point out a few “red flags” so you know what to avoid, whilst sharing access to further information for those of you who may wish to learn more.

It’s suggested most of us work around 10,000 hours during our working lives, and none of us want to risk silly investment mistakes ruining all the hard work we put in getting to a comfortable retirement.

So, when it comes to your super (and investing in general), the following are red flags to watch out for:

• Getting a call, text or email from an “adviser” trying to engage you. AVOID this and ensure you’re the one doing the engaging, not the other way around
• When you do look for an adviser, be wary of social media ads offering things that sound too good to be true. Go do your research first, get some trusted referrals or review finance profession websites that list advisers.
• If someone starts telling you they know how to get the best “returns”, then you need to move on. Returns are what you get after taking many diligent steps in an advice process, they should never be discussed in an initial chat and if and when returns are discussed, the return stated needs to involve a single digit – people suggesting returns of 10%, 20% and more are very likely at best misguided, at worst a scam!
• If someone is providing you with tailored personal financial advice, this needs to be delivered via a document known as a “Statement of Advice” (SoA)
• The SoA needs to clearly state why the advice is in your best interests, it needs to outline any conflicts of interest, how much the advice provider gets paid and how much the fee you’re being charged is. If any of these items seem out of place then do not proceed with the advice and seek a second opinion

A few points from us:

• Getting your super sorted is really important but you need to be cautious where you seek advice from.
• Everyone wants a great investment return – how you get such a return is by ensuring you seek out a low-cost super set-up, use the correct asset allocation for your stage of life, and ensure you make the necessary contributions to grow your wealth. As we advocate, what’s simple is what works. There is almost never a need for anything “sophisticated”.
• Our Wages to Wealth program is a really good place to start in order to get educated on all things super, and then consider the recommendations we suggest. You are then in an informed position to start making financial decisions you feel are in your best interests. From there, you can determine what you feel confident to do yourself and what you may need to outsource to a professional.

Super Consumers Australia have provided a comprehensive summary of what happened and why with regard to the Shield and First Guardian investments. Click HERE to read their article.

While it is terribly sad to see people losing their retirement savings, if you keep your wits about you by listening to our message above, we would like to think you will never find yourself in that position.

If you have questions or concerns, please make sure you shoot us an email at [email protected].

Cheers,

Dan and Dave