Neil Rogan

“Am I going to be okay?”, is increasingly the question Australians are asking their financial adviser, as rising costs, family pressures, negative news cycles and economic uncertainty are overwhelming clients and changing what they need from advice.

The latest report from Russell Investments finds 43% of advised clients sought advice for reassurance about their financial future, ahead of retirement planning at 38%. Competing financial goals rose from 23% to 31% as a driver of seeking advice, the largest movement in this year’s independent research of almost 1,000 Australians.

The 2026 Value of an Adviser Report estimates advisers added at least 5.5% per annum in value through appropriate asset allocation (1.5%), behavioural coaching (2.8%) and tax-savvy planning (1.2%). This sits alongside the variable value of helping clients navigate choices and trade-offs and the “priceless” value of adviser expertise.

Key findings for advised clients

• Confidence more than doubles after advice: 83% are very or extremely confident about achieving their financial goals after receiving advice, compared with 41% before advice.
• Clients are paying more and perceiving more value: 90% rate their adviser as good or excellent value, up from 84% in 2025, despite average annual fees rising from $4,572 to $5,235.
• Satisfaction and advocacy are strengthening: 33% now rate their adviser a perfect 10, up 8% from 2025, while the overall adviser Net Promoter Score stands at +45.
• Personalised advice is the biggest gap to close: 36% of advised clients rate advice tailored to their needs and values as one of the most important adviser attributes, second only to trust, but only 30% say it is delivered extremely well.

Neil Rogan, Head of Distribution, Australia and New Zealand at Russell Investments, said investment outcomes remain fundamental, but are no longer the whole value proposition. “Clients may be balancing a mortgage, helping children into property, supporting ageing parents and planning their own retirement, often at the same time,” Rogan said.

“The conversation is shifting from ‘help me retire’ to ‘will I be okay?’ Advisers are increasingly valued for the confidence, judgement and reassurance they bring to decisions that are complex, emotional and urgent.”

Making invisible value visible

The research also reveals a significant gap between the value advisers deliver and what clients recognise. Seventy-eight per cent of advisers strongly agree that helping clients avoid costly mistakes during market volatility is a benefit of advice, compared with just 27% of clients. Advisers rank it first; clients rank it last. The successful outcome is often the mistake that never happened, making behavioural coaching and reassurance difficult for clients to see.

Demand is building, with 54% of non-advised investors ‘extremely or very likely’ to consider using an adviser, and 48% of those expected to do so within the next two years.

“Growth is not the problem for advice businesses. Execution is,” Rogan said.

“The firms best positioned for the future will combine exceptional human advice with scalable delivery models, giving advisers more time to build trust, apply judgement and help clients answer the question: ‘Am I going to be okay?’”.

Three key priorities for advice businesses

The findings point to a broader industry challenge: how to meet rising expectations for personalised, relationship-led advice amid adviser shortages, regulatory pressure and capacity constraints. The report identifies three priorities:

• Make invisible value visible. Communicate outcomes, demonstrate progress and connect ongoing fees to the reassurance, judgement and behavioural coaching clients receive.
• Scale personalised advice. Tailored advice ranks second only to trust, yet 62% of advisers find delivering it at scale challenging. AI, automation and scalable implementation can create capacity while preserving a personal client experience.
• Build defensible delivery models. Develop transparent, repeatable and resilient operating models that support growth, advice quality and regulatory obligations. Managed accounts are one example of how firms can simplify implementation and strengthen governance.

About the research

The research was conducted in Australia in April and May 2026 and surveyed 501 advised investors, 200 non-advised investors and 237 financial advisers, supported by qualitative adviser interviews. It was conducted for Russell Investments by Honeycomb Strategy, an Australian market research and behavioural science agency.

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Isabella Dobrescu

8.5 million Australian adults^[1] lack basic financial literacy, representing about 45% of the adult population. While Australia ranks among the top 10 countries globally for financial literacy, many people still struggle to confidently make informed decisions about saving, borrowing and managing financial risk.

Professor Isabella Dobrescu, Head of the School of Economics at UNSW Business School, says that a lack of financial literacy can leave people more vulnerable to debt, financial stress and financial abuse, and less prepared for how changes in economic conditions can affect living costs or their personal circumstances.

“Millions of people do not have the basic knowledge needed to confidently decide how much to save, how much to borrow or how to manage financial risk. Financial literacy is not just an individual problem; it is a societal problem, and we need to start building the national capability on this,” she says.

Being financially literate does not mean becoming a money expert. It starts with understanding how everyday financial decisions affect your present and future circumstances, and understanding the economics of your life.

What does it mean to be financially literate?

The term financial literacy can be intimidating, with people often assuming it means having deep knowledge of investing and the stock market. But Prof. Dobrescu says it is much broader and begins with everyday decisions about money.

The estimate that 45% of Australian adults lack basic financial literacy comes from an analysis of the 2016 Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey^[2]. In the analysis, respondents were considered financially literate if they correctly answered all three questions about interest, inflation and investment diversification.

“It is about understanding how to budget, how to save, how much to borrow and how to manage risk. It is about how you make decisions with your money, and so much broader than the stock market,” she says.

Financial literacy helps people manage their own money, but these decisions do not happen in isolation. They are shaped by broader economic conditions, including changes in interest rates, inflation and the cost of living. Prof. Dobrescu says economic literacy helps people understand this wider context, as well as the incentives and trade-offs involved in their choices.

“We live in a world of constraints. We have limited money, limited time, limited information and limited attention,” she says. “Being economically literate helps you make the best in this constrained world, which is the real world.”

On The Business Of Financial Literacy^[3] podcast, Prof. Dobrescu says even highly educated people can make costly financial decisions if they do not pause to understand the trade-offs involved. She gives the example of a person who had significant savings in a bank account earning about 4% interest while carrying credit card debt, attracting roughly 20% interest.

“By using those savings to pay off the credit card debt, they could have avoided paying the higher interest rate,” she says. “It shows why it is important to understand the opportunity cost of the choices you make.”

Is digital spending contributing to financial illiteracy?

The way people interact with money has changed. Tap-and-go payments, digital wallets and online subscriptions have made transactions faster and more convenient, and they can also make people less aware of their spending.

“The biggest behavioural change has been removing the pain of paying,” Prof. Dobrescu says. “When we used cash, we saw the coins and notes leaving our wallets. Now we tap with a card, tap with a phone or click on a subscribe button.”

While digital payments do not necessarily make people financially illiterate, Prof. Dobrescu says the lack of friction can make it harder to recognise how much money is leaving an account, particularly when small payments and recurring subscriptions accumulate over time.

“Transactions happen so quickly that we do not always stop and think about the money leaving our account. When spending becomes less visible, it becomes harder to understand where our money is going and make informed decisions about how much to spend and save,” she says.

To make spending more visible, Prof. Dobrescu recommends setting aside time each month to review expenses and identify recurring payments that are no longer needed.

“Take an hour, look at your expenses and understand where your money is going,” she says. “It is about bringing some of that friction back and becoming more aware of the decisions you are making. It’s a time cost, but it will pay off in the medium to long-term.”

When did you last give your finances a health check?

Financial literacy requires ongoing attention as people’s circumstances and priorities change.

“Financial literacy is not a destination. You have to keep checking the information available and learning because your circumstances change, the financial products available to you change, and the economy changes,” Prof. Dobrescu says.

She says a financial health check should begin with some basic questions: Do you know where your money is going? Do you have an emergency buffer? Are you carrying high-interest debt? And do you understand your superannuation?

“Superannuation is a black box for many people. They know money is going into it, but they may not know how much they have, where it is invested, what insurance is included or whether it will be enough for retirement,” she says.

“The questions people should ask also depend on their stage of life”, Prof. Dobrescu says.

“In your 30s, you should be building the foundations. That means managing debt, establishing an emergency buffer and starting to take your superannuation seriously,” she says.

“Your 40s are a balancing act. You may have a mortgage, children or other caring responsibilities, while also needing to start thinking more seriously about retirement.”

By their 50s, Prof. Dobrescu says people should have a clearer understanding of whether their retirement savings will be sufficient and how future healthcare or aged care costs may affect them.

“The foundations you put in place earlier in life matter, but it is never too late to become more engaged with your finances,” she says.

Education plays an important role

Prof. Dobrescu says education has an important role in closing Australia’s financial literacy gap. She is involved in STEP UP^[4], UNSW’s economic and financial literacy outreach program for high school students, which uses the Playconomics^[5] video game to teach economic and financial concepts through live experiences.

“Students can experiment with different choices, see their consequences and then go back and try again,” she says. “They can see in real time how changing one decision can affect a whole range of outcomes.”

Through the simulated economy, students make decisions about budgeting and spending, how much to save and how much debt to take on, how to deal with taxes, whether to invest in private or public goods and how to respond to market cycles. Prof. Dobrescu says the experience also helps them understand their appetite for risk and willingness to delay spending for a future benefit.

“It is like living your life on fast forward, but without the real-world consequences,” she says. “You can make mistakes, try again and learn how your decisions affect your financial position.”

———

Notes:
[1] 8.5 million Australian adults
[2] Australia (HILDA) Survey.
[3] The Business Of Financial Literacy
[4] STEP UP
[5] Playconomics

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Dave Woodall

New research from one of Australia’s largest super funds, MLC, shows retirement confidence is already shaping how Australians experience work today, with implications for wellbeing, productivity and workforce dynamics.

Findings from the MLC Employer Real Retirement Report highlight that only 31% of Australians believe they will be able to retire when they want to, demonstrating a growing gap between expectations and preparedness.

The Report also found that financial confidence is influencing how employees show up at work. Nearly two-thirds of Australians (65%) say their financial situation affects their health and mental wellbeing, while 16% say it directly interferes with their job performance. The findings reinforce the important role employers can play in supporting employee wellbeing, and the impact of financial stress in the workplace.

Financial confidence is also uneven across the workforce, with women and low-income earners reporting lower levels of confidence in meeting their financial needs in retirement, highlighting the risk of uneven outcomes across workforces if left unaddressed.

The Report also reveals shifting expectations around financial wellbeing, with 84% of Australians believing that employers should provide access to free or subsidised financial advice.

Dave Woodall, CEO of MLC Super, said the Report’s findings showed retirement confidence is built across a person’s working life, not just at the end of it, and the increasing expectations employees have for their employer to provide greater access to financial support.

“Over recent years, it’s become clear that retirement confidence doesn’t sit neatly at the end of a career, it’s built over a working life. And when confidence is missing, the effects start to surface in how people feel, engage and make decisions about work,” said Mr Woodall.

“For employees, that framing matters. It shapes how supported they feel at work today, and whether they believe their employer is thinking beyond the immediate. It also speaks to the broader employee value proposition (EVP), where financial confidence plays a quieter but meaningful role alongside more visible signs of support.

“We hope the MLC Employer Real Retirement Report helps Australian employers build on the important work many are already doing to support employee wellbeing.”

Read the report.

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Susan Bell

Australian retirees have more choice and control over retirement outcomes than they realise with lifestyle being determined not only by super balance but by mindset, confidence, and purposeful spending goals, according to the latest research by Challenger.

In partnership with Susan Bell Research, Challenger surveyed more than 1,000 Australians aged 60 to 80 with super balances more than $100,000. The report is the inaugural research launched by Challenger’s Institute for Lifetime Income^[1].

The study found 82 per cent of retirees are confident they can afford their desired retirement lifestyle, but confidence to spend varies significantly amongst cohorts, including those with similar wealth and demographics.

“We often see many Australians with good superannuation balances don’t have the confidence to spend it. We’re at risk of a generation of Australians under-retiring,” said Aaron Minney, Head of Retirement Income Research at Challenger.

“The most surprising finding from this research is that people with very similar financial circumstances are often living very different lifestyles in retirement. The story is especially nuanced for those retirees in the middle with balances between $300,000 up to $1 million. We now know that super balance, while important, does not tell the whole story on retirement adequacy.

The four personas of retirement

Spending habits change in retirement for 80 per cent of Australians with the research revealing four distinct retirement spending personas; Carefree, Content, Cautious, and Concerned.

Carefree

• For Carefree retirees, retirement is a time of freedom
• lmost 30 per cent of respondents identified as Carefree, focused on enjoying life – travelling, socialising with friends, and spending time with grandchildren while unburdened by financial concerns.

Content

• A Content lifestyle was enjoyed by around 20 per cent of respondents, who chose a simpler retirement and to spend mindfully.
• Importantly, this group is spending less by choice and remain confident their savings will last for life.

Cautious

• 15 per cent of Cautious respondents were careful with their money due to uncertainty it will last.
• While only half expected to have super left for their estate, three quarters (74%) were confident they could afford their lifestyle.
• Cutting back on spending helped this group to navigate the unexpected.

Concerned

• Concerned retirees had a genuine fear of running out.
• Approximately 10 per cent of respondents are living on a tight budget out of necessity, surviving on much less income than they used to.
• Many with this lifestyle are reliant on the Age or Disability Pension, with higher cost-of-living compounding the challenge.

Susan Bell, Founder and Lead Researcher at Susan Bell Research, said the findings reinforced that retirement was far more diverse than is often recognised.

“The research revealed spending patterns in retirement are not static and retirees can shift between lifestyle personas as priorities change over the retirement lifecycle,” Ms Bell said.

“People with remarkably similar financial circumstances were often making very different decisions about how they wanted to live in retirement. Looking beyond financial measures helped explain those differences in a way that numbers alone cannot,” she said.

For some retirees, the confidence to spend grows as they settle into this new lifestyle. For others, they report cutting back as circumstances, such as health, change.

“It is important to recognise that retirement is a dynamic lifecycle, not set-and-forget,” Mr Minney said. “Pleasingly, the research shows half of Australian retirees are living a Carefree or Content lifestyle, enjoying retirement on their terms and choosing to spend on the things that matter to them most. Whether that means upgrading to a business-class ticket to Europe or enjoying a purposeful life at a slower pace, these retirees feel empowered to choose but we must understand that priorities and confidence to spend do change over time.

“In retirement, balancing competing objectives of planning for the future versus living for today is difficult. What this research shows us is the need for consistent support over the evolution of retirement. By doing so we can help more Australians realise that an aspirational lifestyle is achievable. For example, shifting Cautious retirees to a Content lifestyle could be as simple as helping them to better understand their goals and align their spending accordingly.

“By recognising that it is never too late to secure a more confident retirement, we may be able to improve the retirement lifestyles of millions of Australians,” Mr Minney added.

Key Research findings

• Around a third of retirees (34%) were confident in spending predictions for the next one to two years, this figure fell to just 1 in 10 (11%) when asked to predict over the next decade. Concerningly, 14 per cent of retirees and 19 per cent of pre-retirees had no idea about future spending over any time horizon.
• Nearly three quarters of retirees (73%) and more than half of pre-retirees (51%) had received some form of advice or assistance. Income security, managing investments, and planning retirement lifestyle were priority topics for both cohorts.
• For those who had received help, information or advice, 55 per cent of retirees and a staggering 71 per cent of pre-retirees felt there were other new topics worth getting advice or guidance on. For those who had never sought help or advice, 48 per cent of retirees and 78 per cent of pre-retirees could nominate a topic they wanted support with.

“As we live longer and cost-of-living bites, fear of running out of money may see more pre-retirees conservatively default to a Cautious or Concerned lifestyle unnecessarily. For retirees, the inability to predict the future may see a pullback from Content and Carefree lifestyles in later years,” Mr Minney said.

“Neither are good outcomes. Mindset matters over money in these situations. More needs to be done to help older Australians visualise and plan for their future to ensure greater confidence, clarity, and comfort at every stage of their hard-earned golden years.

“Retirement is not simply a phase of life. It is a dynamic, constantly changing lifecycle that requires consistent care and attention. Our hope is that this research, and our efforts at the Institute for Lifetime Income, will empower greater, ongoing retirement conversations and help more Australians have financial security for a better retirement,” he said.

———-

Notes:
[1] https://www.challenger.com.au/about-us/Institute-for-Lifetime-Income

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The study of HNW investors who work with a financial adviser found that around 80% have already used AI for financial tasks – from general financial education (50%) and comparing investment strategies (46%) to sense-checking the advice they receive from their own adviser (35%).

Yet that rising self-direction has not translated into a desire to go it alone. Asked whether they would manage their portfolio themselves if given access to the exact same tools their adviser uses, just 29% said yes. Roughly seven in ten would still prefer to keep their adviser’s guidance.

The finding runs counter to the widely held view that AI and self-service tools will erode demand for financial advice. Instead, the research suggests AI is reshaping what clients expect from the relationship rather than replacing it: 86% of HNW investors said the human adviser–client relationship will remain important even in an AI-enabled future, and most favour a “human advice with AI support” model over full automation.

“The story here isn’t AI versus advisers — it’s AI with advisers,” said Denis Orrock, Chief Strategy Officer at Praemium. “Clients are using these tools to become more informed and more engaged, and they’re arriving with higher expectations of what their adviser should deliver. That’s an opportunity, not a threat — but it does raise the bar. The role of a platform is to give advisers the tools and efficiencies to meet that expectation, rather than leaving them to compete with technology their clients are already using.”

Personalisation — not performance — is the real loyalty test

The more HNW investors use AI to test ideas, compare strategies and validate adviser recommendations, the more the value of advice shifts toward what technology cannot provide on its own: context, judgement and a complete view of wealth. The strongest signal in the research is that the service clients value most is an adviser who understands “how my finances fit into my whole life picture” (47%) — ahead of above-average investment returns as a stand-alone measure of value.

That matters because clients are not using AI simply to bypass advice. They are using it to become more informed participants in the relationship. Nine in ten said their adviser helps build their financial literacy and 88% said their adviser keeps them accountable to their goals. The implication is clear: AI may help clients ask better questions, but the adviser remains the person who turns information into guidance, connects investment decisions to broader wealth objectives, and provides the coaching and education clients continue to value.

The opportunity: free advisers to do more of what clients value

If AI is making clients more informed, the opportunity is not to automate the adviser relationship but to give advisers more capacity to deepen it. HNW clients remain most comfortable with AI where it supports human judgement, and continue to see complex portfolio management (65%), intergenerational wealth transfer (60%) and investment selection (59%) as work that still requires an adviser. The task for the AI era is therefore clear: remove the friction that keeps advisers buried in reporting, administration and manual processes, so they can spend more time providing the whole-of-wealth guidance, education and accountability clients value most.

“The advisers who thrive won’t be the ones doing everything themselves. They’ll be the ones who use technology to remove the work that doesn’t require human judgement, so they can spend more time on the personalised engagement clients actually value,” said Orrock. “That is where platforms have an important role to play. By giving advisers whole-of-wealth visibility, stronger reporting and more efficient workflows, technology can help surface a client’s full financial picture faster and create more time for the higher-value conversations HNW clients are asking for.”

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Kurt Mayell

In an era of unprecedented access to market information, investor success is increasingly determined not by what investors know, but by how they behave, according to a new report from CMC Markets Australia.

Inside the Mind of the Trader: Understanding Trading Psychology explores the behavioural forces that shape trading and investing decisions, revealing how emotions, biases and decision-making habits continue to influence both individual performance and broader market trends.

Despite the perception, investor returns are driven by more than earnings results, economic data and interest rate expectations. Investor behaviour remains a powerful force in determining how markets respond to information and uncertainty.

“Markets don’t just move on fundamentals, they move on how people interpret and react to those fundamentals,” said Kurt Mayell, Head of Markets for CMC Markets ANZ.

“Access to information has never been greater, but that doesn’t necessarily lead to better decisions. Understanding investor behaviour is becoming just as important to understand the market itself.”

The report highlights several common behavioural biases that can influence investor decisionmaking, including loss aversion, overconfidence, herd mentality, recency bias, and fear of missing out (FOMO).

While these biases are well documented, they continue to affect investors across all market conditions. The report argues that many investment mistakes stem not from a lack of information, but from the way people process information under pressure.

“The challenge for traders isn’t a lack of information, it’s how they process it,” said Mr Mayell. “In fast-moving markets, decisions are rarely purely rational. Emotion, recent experiences, and market sentiment all influence how people assess risk and opportunity.”

The findings come as investors face increasingly complex and information-rich market environments. Research cited in the report shows that emotional decision-making can have a measurable impact on long-term investment outcomes, with studies finding the average investor has historically underperformed broader market returns due to poor timing and behavioural biases.

According to Mr Mayell, these behavioural influences can also help explain market activity that appears disconnected from traditional valuation measures.

“Markets may evolve, but the behavioural patterns that drive trading decisions remain remarkably consistent,” he said. “Visibility, familiarity, and recent price movement can often attract investor attention, even when those factors have little to do with underlying value.”

The report concludes that behavioural discipline is becoming an increasingly important advantage for investors. As information becomes more widely accessible, the ability to manage information, stick to a process, and make consistent decisions under pressure, prove a greater differentiator than access to market insights alone.

“The real edge isn’t simply having more information,” Mr Mayell said. “It’s having the discipline to stick to a strategy when markets become uncertain. How investors behave under pressure often matters more than the opportunities they identify.”

How to build better trading habits

Three key takeaways:

1. Have a clear plan before entering a trade. Establish clear objectives, risk parameters, and exit strategies before entering a position.
2. Pause before acting on significant market moves. Be aware of common behavioural tendencies such as loss aversion, herd mentality, overconfidence, and FOMO, particularly during periods of market volatility.
3. Maintain discipline. In markets where information is widely accessible, the ability to manage emotions and stick to a process becomes a defining advantage.

Read the report.

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David Ward

Key figures

• Private Ancillary Funds (PAFs) distributed more than $914 million in FY2023-24, up 14 per cent, across more than 2,289 funds
• Distributions from the main public offer Public Ancillary Funds (PuAFs) grew 12 per cent in FY2023-24 
• Fewer than half of the 28,000 Australians earning more than $1 million a year make a tax-deductible charitable donation
• PAFs now account for 22 per cent of all tax-deductible gifts received by charities, even as overall giving stagnates

Support for charities through Private Ancillary Funds now accounts for 22 per cent of all deductible gifts received by charities, as the popularity of Private and Public Ancillary Funds continues to grow despite overall giving stagnating in recent years, new Australian Taxation Office (ATO) data reveals.

David Ward, technical director at Australian Philanthropic Services (APS), says the FY2023-24 tax statistics demonstrate how committed givers approach philanthropy.

“The numbers tell two stories at once,” Ward says.

“Participation among high-income earners hasn’t improved but giving through PAFs has grown where general giving hasn’t, now making up almost a quarter of deductible gifts received by charities.”

“In part, this may be explained by generous higher income earners engaging with structured giving. Indeed, those with a gross income above $1 million but taxable income below $1 million have gifted an average of $589,000, significantly more than the $61,000 average gift from those who give and have a taxable income over $1 million.  Furthermore, half of those with gross income over $1 million don’t make a deductible gift at all.”

“That combination should be a wake-up call for policymakers, for charities that rely on individual donors, for professional advisers, and for givers themselves.”

Ward says the gap between the capacity of high-net-worth Australians to give, and their actual giving represents a significant opportunity for advisers.

“Fewer than half of the 28,000 Australians earning more than $1 million a year make a tax-deductible donation, despite having significant capacity to give,” Ward says.

“That’s a clear opening for advisers working with high-net-worth clients and family offices to bring philanthropy into the financial conversation.”

PAFs and PuAFs require an upfront capital commitment that secures an immediate tax deduction. Funds are invested in a tax-free environment, growing the corpus over time, while minimum annual distributions lock in giving as a long-term commitment rather than a discretionary decision that can be deferred or skipped in a tighter year.

The structures also give donors a clear framework for succession and family involvement, tax-effective timing of contributions independent of when funds reach charities, and a more strategic, portfolio-style approach to philanthropy.

The year to June 2026 saw the largest number of new foundations ever established through structured giving vehicles, suggesting more givers are favouring the discipline of a structured vehicle over ad hoc annual donations.

“This is encouraging, and the data points to a real opportunity for financial planners and accountants,” Ward says.

“Advisers are often the first port of call when clients are structuring their wealth, yet philanthropy isn’t always part of that conversation. And the timing matters.  The opportunity to set up a giving structure is often tied to when a capital gain is realised, putting advisers and accountants in the front seat to raise philanthropy at the right moment.

“That relationship will only become more important as Australia moves through an estimated $5.4 trillion intergenerational wealth transfer. Advisers who’ve built relationships with the children and grandchildren of existing clients will be best placed to retain those relationships as wealth changes hands.”

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What contribution strategies can advisers utilise to help their clients increase their superannuation balances in the lead up to retirement.

For clients in their fifties and early sixties, superannuation stops being a distant concept and becomes a countdown. This article, proudly sponsored by Allianz Retire+, explores how clients can maximise their contributions to super in these important years.

The mortgage is often paid down or close to it. Children are typically more financially independent. Income is frequently at its peak. Despite this, many Australians in this position aren’t making the most of the contribution opportunities available to them, simply because they’re unaware of what’s possible in the time remaining.

As you would be aware, this is the decade that matters most for building a super balance, that can make the difference between a ‘modest’ or ‘comfortable’ retirement as defined by ASFA in its Retirement Standard^[1].

Money contributed at 55 has fifteen or more years to compound before it needs to support a retirement; funds contributed at 64 have considerably less. The tools available to pre-retirees, concessional contributions, non-concessional contributions and a handful of structural strategies like downsizer contributions and spousal splitting, are well established. What’s often missing is a clear plan for using them before the window available to each closes.

This article sets out the key contribution strategies advisers should discuss with clients in the ten years before retirement. It covers how the concessional and non-concessional caps work under the current rules, how carry-forward and bring-forward provisions can be used to catch up on missed contributions, and where downsizer and spouse contributions fit into a broader plan. These are the conversations that could make a significant difference to a client’s retirement outcome.

How much is enough?

Is it a million dollars? Twice that? Will a client get by on half that amount?

As you likely tell each client, it depends on a range of factors. Lifestyle, goals, home ownership, health and control. The latter point is important. In 2024-25^[2], the top 3 reasons retirees ceased their last job were: reaching retirement age or eligible for superannuation (33%), sickness, injury or disability (13%) or retrenched, dismissed or no work available (6%). Retirees who left their last job due to sickness, injury or disability had the lowest retirement age, on average. So, that’s nearly 20% who had no control over the timing of the retirement…and of course, their readiness for this next stage of life (that naturally leads into a discussion on the importance of insurance, but that’s beyond the scope of this article).

Many pre-retiree clients are asset-rich and income-comfortable, but their super balance doesn’t necessarily reflect either. It’s a common pattern: a client who has managed a mortgage responsibly, built some equity and maintained a solid income for decades, arrives at 55 with a super balance that won’t meet their retirement income needs. The gap is generally due to a working life spent focused on other priorities, with super running quietly in the background.

What changes in this decade is capacity. For many clients, mortgages are often paid off or at least paid down. Children are frequently independent and the client’s earnings potential is commonly at its highest point. For many clients, this is the first time in years that meaningful discretionary income exists, and it coincides with the last stretch of time available to put that income to work inside super.

There’s also a psychological shift worth noting. Clients in their fifties and sixties tend to be more engaged with retirement planning than they were a decade earlier. Retirement has moved from an abstract future event to a specific, calculable date. This engagement is an opening – clients who weren’t interested in contribution strategies at 40 are often ready to act at 55, provided the options are explained clearly and the time pressure is made real.

And while there’s no definitive answer to the ‘how much is enough’ question, each client’s financial and lifestyle goals will contribute to the answer. ASFA’s retirement standard can also provide some guidance. Its most recent update^[3] has seen a considerable climb from previous years, with the required superannuation balances jumping from $595,000 to $630,000 for singles and from $690,000 to $730,000 for couples to enjoy a ‘comfortable’ retirement.

The point is, however, that it is important for clients to start their retirement savings early and to maximise contributions during the 10-15 years prior to retirement.

Concessional contributions: the core lever

Concessional contributions are the most commonly used tool available to pre-retiree clients. For the 2026-27 financial year, the concessional cap is $32,500; this covers employer superannuation guarantee (SG) payments, salary sacrifice arrangements and personal contributions claimed as a tax deduction.

For most PAYG clients, the SG rate of 12% leaves meaningful room under the cap. A client earning $150,000 receives roughly $18,000 in SG contributions, leaving around $14,500 in unused concessional cap space each year. Salary sacrifice is the straightforward route for employees wanting to fill that gap.

Self-employed clients can make personal deductible contributions to a complying superannuation fund up to the maximum contributions cap. They must complete a Notice of Intent (NOI) to claim or vary a deduction form and provide it to their super fund before lodging that year’s tax return.  The super fund will provide a formal written acknowledgement confirming they received and accepted the NOI. Once received, the acknowledged deduction amount is included in your client’s tax return. Once claimed as a deduction, the contribution is treated as a concessional contribution.

The tax case is usually the easiest part of the conversation. Concessional contributions are taxed at 15% inside the fund, compared with the marginal rates likely paid by your clients. For a client on the top marginal rate, salary sacrificing into super rather than taking income as salary represents a substantial tax saving, on top of the retirement benefit.

Advisers should flag Division 293 tax for clients with income above $250,000, which adds an additional 15% tax on some or all of their concessional contributions, though even at this level the total tax rate on contributions typically remains below the top marginal rate^[4].

The carry-forward rule

Clients with a total super balance below $500,000 at the previous 30 June can access unused concessional cap space from the past five financial years, on top of the current year’s cap. For 2026-27, this can lift a client’s effective concessional cap as high as $175,000, combining the current $32,500 cap with unused amounts from 2021-22 through to 2025-26.

This provision is especially important for those clients who may have taken time out of the workforce, worked part-time for a period, ran a business with modest early profits, or simply didn’t prioritise super contributions in earlier years. A client realising a major asset, receiving an inheritance or collecting a bonus or redundancy payment can use the carry-forward rule to direct a large lump sum into super at concessional tax rates, rather than defaulting to a non-concessional contribution or leaving the money outside super.

Unused amounts expire after five years on a rolling basis, and the total super balance test is assessed annually; a client who crosses the $500,000 threshold loses access to the provision going forward. This makes an annual review of carry-forward eligibility, rather than a one-off conversation, an important part of the service for clients in this age bracket.

Non-concessional contributions and the bring-forward rule

Non-concessional contributions are the tool for clients who have money to add to super beyond what the concessional cap allows, typically from an asset sale, an inheritance or accumulated savings outside super. For 2026-27, the annual non-concessional cap is $130,000. Contributions are made from after-tax income and not taxed again on entry to the fund.

On its own, a $130,000 annual cap is useful but limited for clients looking to make a meaningful lump sum contribution; it’s the bring-forward rule that makes non-concessional contributions an interesting pre-retirement strategy. It allows clients under 75 to access up to three years of the cap in a single financial year, provided their total super balance falls under the relevant threshold.

From 1 July 2026, clients with a total super balance under $1.84 million at the previous 30 June can contribute up to $390,000 in one year. Clients with a balance between $1.84 million and $1.97 million can bring forward two years, allowing a contribution of up to $260,000. Above $1.97 million, no bring-forward is available, and the client is limited to the standard annual cap. Once a client’s total super balance reaches $2.1 million, the general transfer balance cap for 2026-27, non-concessional contributions are no longer available at all^[5].

This makes non-concessional contributions a strategy constrained in two independent ways. Firstly, the total super balance test cuts off access as balances grow, and secondly, triggering the bring-forward rule locks in a fixed cap for the following two years regardless of any indexation that occurs during that period. For example, a client who triggers a bring-forward contribution in 2026-27 uses their full three-year allowance based on this year’s caps, even if the cap rises again in 2027-28 or 2028-29.

This highlights the importance of planning. A client who sells an investment property, business or other asset, or receives an inheritance or other lump sum in their late fifties or early sixties, will often have a choice about whether to direct proceeds into super or hold them outside it. For clients still below the total super balance thresholds, the bring-forward rule allows a substantial amount to move into a concessionally taxed environment in a single transaction. This is considerably more effective than spreading the same contribution over several years and risking a change in circumstances or eligibility along the way.

The main planning risk is timing. Total super balances are assessed at the previous 30 June, so a client’s eligibility for a given financial year is locked in before the year even begins. Advisers working with clients close to a threshold should model contribution timing well ahead of the relevant date, since a balance that moves across a threshold, whether through investment growth or an earlier contribution, can materially change the available strategy.

The downsizer contribution

The downsizer contribution is available to clients aged 55 and over, and it sits comfortably outside the caps already discussed. Eligible clients can contribute up to $300,000 each – or $600,000 per couple – from the sale of their home, with no work test and no total super balance restriction on eligibility. However, a downsizer contribution will be included in your client’s total superannuation balance when it is calculated at the end of the financial year which, in turn, may affect their future eligibility regarding some superannuation rules and entitlements.

Downsizer eligibility rules

The downsizer contribution is administered by the ATO and there are some rules to qualify:

• Your clients are aged 55 years old or older at the time they make the contribution
• The client’s home was owned by them (individually, as a couple or by their spouse) for 10 or more years before the sale. If only one spouse owned the home, the other is also eligible to contribute if the other conditions are met.
• The home being sold is a residential building in Australia and is not a caravan, houseboat, or mobile home.
• The sale qualifies for the main residence capital gains tax (CGT) exemption – either fully or partially; or if the home was purchased before 20 September 1985, it would have qualified if it were a CGT asset.
• Your client has not previously made a downsizer contribution from the sale of another home, or the partial sale of their current home.
• Your client provides the ‘Downsizer contribution into super’ form to their super fund before, or at the time they make the contribution.
• The contribution is made within 90 days of receiving the home sale proceeds (usually at settlement) unless your client applies for and is granted an extension of time by the ATO.

What makes this provision distinct from concessional and non-concessional contributions is that it sits outside both caps entirely. A client can make a full downsizer contribution in the same year they use their concessional cap, their carry-forward provisions, and the non-concessional bring-forward rule. It also remains available to clients whose total super balance exceeds $2.1 million.

For advisers, the downsizer contribution fits naturally into conversations you may already be having. Many clients in their late fifties and sixties will weigh up whether to stay in the family home or move to something smaller as part of their broader retirement plan. Where that move is already under consideration, the downsizer contribution turns a lifestyle decision into a substantial retirement funding opportunity.

A few details are worth flagging early in these conversations with clients, rather than after a sale has gone through. Firstly, the age threshold applies at the time the contribution is made, not at settlement, which could matter for a client selling close to their 55th birthday.

Secondly, while the downsizer contribution itself isn’t assessed for eligibility, the proceeds will be counted in the client’s total super balance from 1 July following the contribution, which can affect their access to non-concessional contributions and carry-forward provisions in future years.

Finally, you should also flag the Age Pension impact where relevant. Moving the sale proceeds from an exempt principal residence into an assessable super balance can affect a client’s means-tested entitlements, even before they’ve reached pension age.

Spouse contributions and contribution splitting

Where couples approach retirement with uneven super balances, spouse contributions and contribution splitting offer two ways to address it; one is aimed at building the lower balance directly and the other at redistributing what’s already been contributed.

Spouse contributions

The spouse contribution tax offset rewards a contributing partner for adding to a lower-earning spouse’s super. A client can claim a tax offset of up to $540 by contributing $3,000 or more to their spouse’s super, provided the receiving spouse’s income is below $37,000, with the offset phasing out entirely at $40,000.

The contribution itself counts as a non-concessional contribution for the receiving spouse, so it draws on their non-concessional cap rather than the contributing partner’s. Eligibility also depends on the receiving spouse’s total super balance sitting under the general transfer balance cap, $2.1 million for 2026-27, at the previous 30 June.

The dollar amounts here are modest against the scale of the other strategies in this article, so the value isn’t really in the offset itself. It’s in the habit of directing new contributions toward whichever partner needs the balance built up, which matters more the closer a couple gets to retirement.

Contribution splitting

Contribution splitting works differently and solves a different problem. Rather than directing new money, it allows a client to transfer up to 85% of their own concessional contributions from the previous financial year into their spouse’s super account. There’s no tax offset attached and no income test on the receiving spouse. It’s treated as a rollover rather than a fresh contribution, so it doesn’t use any of the receiving spouse’s own caps.

For pre-retiree couples, the case for splitting usually comes down to balance equalisation. A couple with $1.6 million held mostly in one partner’s name faces a different set of constraints than a couple with the same combined balance split evenly. The partner with the larger balance is closer to the total super balance thresholds that restrict non-concessional contributions and carry-forward eligibility, while the partner with the smaller balance has unused cap space going to waste. Splitting contributions each year, even in modest amounts, keeps both partners’ balances progressing together rather than one hitting a ceiling while the other has room to spare.

There’s a second reason equalisation matters for this age group: transfer balance cap planning. Since each person has their own transfer balance cap, a couple with evenly split balances can generally move more combined super into a tax-free pension phase than a couple with one large balance and one small one. For clients approaching retirement with a significant gap between their balances, this is often the more persuasive reason to start splitting contributions now rather than waiting.

The strategies discussed in this article, concessional and non-concessional contributions, carry-forward and bring-forward provisions, downsizer and spouse contributions, aren’t new or complicated in isolation. What makes them powerful in the pre-retirement decade is timing. A client who understands what’s available at 55 and acts on it has a materially different outcome to a client who has the same conversation at 63, simply because there’s less time left for the strategy to work and less room left under the thresholds that govern it.

This is also why a mid-life super review shouldn’t be treated as a one-off exercise. Nearly every strategy in this article, the carry-forward concessional cap, the non-concessional bring-forward rule, spouse contribution eligibility, hinges on a client’s total super balance at the previous 30 June. That figure isn’t static. It moves with investment returns, with contributions made earlier in the year, and with life events like an inheritance or a property sale. A client who was eligible for carry-forward last year may not be this year, and a client approaching the $500,000 or $1.84 million thresholds needs that checked before any contribution advice is given.

For advisers, the practical implication is straightforward. Total super balance should be reviewed annually for every client in this age bracket, ahead of any conversation about caps or contribution strategy. Building this check into an annual process is what turns these strategies from occasional advice into a consistent and important component of retirement planning.

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Notes:
[1] https://www.superannuation.asn.au/consumers/retirement-standard/
[2] BS, Retirement and Retirement Intentions, Australia, October 2025
[3] ASFA, Retirement Standard March quarter 2026
[4]  https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/super-for-individuals-and-families/super/growing-and-keeping-track-of-your-super/caps-limits-and-tax-on-super-contributions/division-293-tax-on-concessional-contributions-by-high-income-earners
[5] https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/super-for-individuals-and-families/super/growing-and-keeping-track-of-your-super/caps-limits-and-tax-on-super-contributions/non-concessional-contributions-cap

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Wealth transfer is accelerating in Australia. But governance is lagging.

Most Australian family fortunes do not survive the handover to the next generation. On the most widely cited research, from the Williams Group, 70 per cent of families lose their inherited wealth by the second generation and 90 per cent by the third. Only one in twenty pass on more than they received.

The failures are rarely technical. The same research attributes around 60 per cent to a breakdown of trust and communication within the family and a further 25 per cent to unprepared heirs, with tax and markets a small residual.

Lipman Burgon, a partner-led wealth governance firm, argues these are governance failures: who decides, how, and how the next generation is prepared. More advice does not close the gap. Better-governed decisions do. And the stakes are rising. The Productivity Commission estimates around $3.5 trillion in assets will change hands in Australia by 2050, with inherited assets, roughly $120 billion a year now, projected to quadruple to almost $500 billion a year within 25 years.

According to Paul Burgon, Chief Executive and Chief Investment Officer of Lipman Burgon, this is changing what families need from an adviser: from investment management alone to the governance of decisions across the whole of a family’s affairs, as families hold more across more structures, jurisdictions and generations at once. The firm describes its work in a single line: better decisions through governance.

“Most families with real complexity don’t lack advisers. They lack someone accountable for how the advice fits together,” Burgon says.

That accountability is the heart of the firm’s model. One partner holds the full context of a family’s affairs and convenes the specialists and advisers around them, so the parts operate as a whole. Critically, the model does not displace the accountant or the lawyer. It coordinates them, under a single plan, with one partner answerable for how the pieces fit.

“The biggest risk for many families isn’t market volatility,” Burgon says. “It is fragmented decision-making.”

The point is not to promise better returns, rather better decisions: the quality, coherence and accountability of the choices made across investments, structures and family over time. Lipman Burgon structures every client relationship through the same methodology, Architecture, Governance, Stewardship, whichever service the family enters through.

“The real test is continuity. Most of the families we have worked with for more than 10 years now have the next generation actively involved, well before any handover. That is what carries wealth across generations,” Burgon says.

The urgency is generational. Joanna Sun, Head of Family Office Design at Lipman Burgon, says the transfer now underway will test families that have not done the governance work.

“Wealth transfer is accelerating in Australia. But governance is lagging,” Sun says. “The families that have done the work will be the ones whose wealth survives the handover.”

Lipman Burgon works across three connected service lines: Wealth, Private Office and For Purpose. Wealth covers investment-led advice and stewardship of financial capital. Private Office provides comprehensive stewardship for families with complex affairs, coordinating the whole advisory ecosystem. For Purpose brings investment governance to foundations, charities and other mission-led organisations. One organising logic runs through all three, under the firm’s promise: Wealth and Legacy in Motion.

Behind the promise sits a broader view of what wealth is for. In the firm’s framework, financial capital is the engine, not the destination. It exists to serve four other forms: the human capital of family members, the family’s intellectual capital, its social capital, and its legacy capital, the enduring contribution and purpose carried across generations. Wealth governance, on this view, is the discipline that keeps all five moving in the direction a family intends.

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Scott Carmichael

Founders spend years building a business, and often years preparing it for sale. Escala says too few spend adequate time preparing for the transition and the period immediately after settlement, when concentrated business value is converted into liquid capital.

When managed well, founders can establish a pathway to resilient sustained wealth. Without enough groundwork, the impact can be long-term and compounding.

Founders are selling, but settlement is not the finish line

The complexity of the transition that follows a successful business sale cannot be underestimated. While settlement may feel like the end of the journey, it marks the beginning of a very different set of decisions and adjustments.

Scott Carmichael, Head of Advisory at Escala, said, “Settlement of a business sale or transition can affect every aspect of daily life, with the challenges being just as psychological and emotional as they are financial or operational. For this reason, the plan needs to consider the whole of life alongside investment planning.”

Founders who sell businesses have invariably been consumed by the day-to-day operations of the business and the sale process itself. In many instances, little forward planning has been undertaken.

“The advisor’s role is first and foremost to listen, understand where a founder’s ambitions lie, identify potential risks, and help create a clear vision for what comes next.”

Many founders move from running a business they know intimately to overseeing a significant pool of liquid capital across markets and opportunities that may feel far less familiar.

“That shift can be confronting,” Carmichael said. “Even simple measures, such as establishing a regular ‘salary’, can reduce uncertainty and support better decision-making.”

“Continuity is critical. While founders may have long-standing relationships with accountants, lawyers and other trusted advisors, the wealth advisor is the element that brings these functions together, ensuring they work collectively to formulate a cohesive strategy and a clear vision for the future. Keeping those relationships aligned is an equally important part of managing risk.”

The post-sale strategy is a critical wealth issue

Escala believes the initial post-sale period is one of the most critical, yet often overlooked, stages of the founder wealth journey. A successful exit creates an important opportunity to pause after what is often one of the most significant events of a founder’s life. It provides the time to evaluate personal priorities, family objectives and long-term ambitions before committing capital. It is equally important to recognise that developing a sound strategy for a life-changing event takes time. Over the years following a sale, objectives and vision often become clearer.

“Founders need to understand their liquidity needs, tax position, income requirements, family objectives, retained business interests and long-term investment horizon,” Carmichael said.

“That requires careful consideration. The first question should be what the capital needs to achieve, not where to invest.”

Simon Dawkins, Head of Capital Markets and Escala’s Direct Investment Group, believes without a plan, founders can move too quickly into risk assets, sit too long in cash, or move back towards concentrated direct opportunities because they feel familiar.

Escala’s Direct Investment Group, led by Dawkins, was established to meet Escala’s UHNW client demand for access to institutional-quality direct investment opportunities across all asset classes; and plays a very relevant role in this scenario.

“For example, we see an important role for a curated portfolio of direct investment-grade bonds to provide capital stability, liquidity within two to three days, and materially higher returns than cash. Being in such a liquid strategy to start with allows for quick redeployment into risk assets as prescribed by the client’s advice team,” said Dawkins. “Capital needs to be working from day one, and this strategy gives clients, together with their advice team, time to refine their target risk profile and allow staged investment into less liquid risk assets.”

Carmichael commented that it is not uncommon for the entirety of a founder’s sale proceeds to be directed to the Direct Investment Group on day one.

He added “it is an excellent example of how an integrated model, which combines wholesale advice, Chief Investment Office oversight, and institutional-quality investments can assist the shift from wealth creation to wealth stewardship.”

The role of wholesale advice

Carmichael concludes that a key part of the ongoing advisory relationship, much like the sale, is helping founders create continuity through that next phase. This may involve working alongside spouses, family members, accountants and other trusted advisors to ensure decisions remain aligned and the family’s objectives are clearly understood.

“These are deeply personal matters and, ultimately, the goal is to provide founders with confidence that their wealth is structured not only for today’s needs, but for the people and priorities that will matter long into the future.”

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