A new, comprehensive case that Australians should self manage their superannuation, including the younger with moderate account balances.
The nation's super is an information catastrophe, denying those compelled to pay into it the means to plan their retirement. The book explains why this aberration has arisen and how it can be rectified - written in a self-help narrative for the five million working Australians who hold around $500 billion of compulsory savings in public superannuation funds. The evidence is that these Australians should switch to self-managing their super, for good reasons which are contrary to popular wisdom. Principally, the system of public funds is dysfunctional and has averted the most basic of its responsibilities by denying critical information to its members, to their detriment. Secondly, self-managing can be conducted at modest cost while delivering a greater benefit in retirement.
The book's promise is that Australians, when properly informed, can produce more wealth, with confidence about their super and retirement outcomes. Within that narrative are some powerful messages, for each of the system's participants.
Funds' members discover that self reliance is entirely feasible for anyone interested in their super prospects. All that is required for prudent and confident planning is logical thinking about probability. Readers are introduced to the idea of a "likely" benefit, and to judging how much confidence in their super result is enough. Demonstrably, great strides in wealth and confidence can be made without cost by self-managing. The principles are extended to retirement, with similar gains in productivity.
Trustees of public funds learn that they have been relying upon concepts and advice which do not address their responsibility. Time and members' money have been directed to funds' priorities while the real interests of members have been ignored. The legal backdrop is opened up, providing little comfort.
Regulators are shown to be incapable of transitioning from the old defined benefit paradigm to today's defined contribution reality which they are required to regulate. This failure has persisted despite explicit legislation, well-established theory, and direct advice - all pointing to the flaw. The Wallis reforms, through which super was embedded within overall financial regulation, has failed - because the funds management culture has prevailed, leaving Australians denied the correct information to participate in their super.
The super funds industry is reminded that its foundation is incongruous, developed without consultation and careless about the risk passed to unprepared Australians. Current practices are unsustainable, funds are uncompetitive, and wealth management lacks credibility and results. Financial planning and advice has lost people's trust, because mostly it is indentured to product providers and large institutions indifferent to the super product.
A fresh super culture can now emerge, centred on the individual's benefit and driven by truly modern benefit thinking, enabling Australians to take charge of their compulsory savings.
About the Author: Mike Gilligan- from science in Canberra in the sixties, to England and a PhD igniting rocket propellants. Back in Australia he moved into operations research in defence. He led the defence analytical unit, fusing science and economics. More change followed in the 1990s, into risk in finance, as investment strategy adviser to the nation's largest super funds. Over a decade ago, he became curious about the contradictions in the nation's then new super system and, amazed that nobody else was, set about researching this lifelong risk which most Australians bear.
