Lifecycle Investing |
research & opinion about lifecycle
investing issues
This is a special interest subsection of our wider
Perspectives library in which we present research and
opinion about lifecycle investing issues. Lifecycle
investing is based on a philosophy of consciously
constructing portfolios so that, over the whole of a
person’s life, acceptable standards of living and
specific life goals are more likely to be achieved
consistently - with all the complexity and tailoring
that entails. |
|
The best approach to adjustable retirement withdrawals
The classic 4% rule holds withdrawals at 4%
of the initial value of the portfolio at retirement. A great deal of
recent research has focused on strategies that adjust withdrawals
depending on investment experience.
Joe Tomlinson,
Tomlinson Financial Planning
| 08-07-15 |
White Paper |
|
Big raises and lifestyle creep
The surprising result of a recent study is
that the "conventional" view that earnings rise steadily (above
inflation) throughout our careers is not accurate. Good spending habits
established early on can make an astounding difference to wealth over a
lifetime.
Michael Kitces, Pinnacle Advisory Group
| 29-05-15 |
Opinion |
|
How should retirees manage risk in a DC world?
This paper offers a surprising amount of information and
interesting ways of framing investment issues in retirement, along with
analysis of longevity vs investment risk and the implications.
Angela Ashton, PortfolioConstruction
Forum
| 10-03-15 |
Research |
|
Risk transfer vs risk retention
The real distinction in retirement income philosophies and
strategies is not about which are “safe” and which not. It is whether
risk is transferred or retained (and if retained, how it is managed).
Michael Kitces, Pinnacle Advisory Group
| 20-01-15 |
Opinion |
|
The Yin and Yang of retirement income philosophies
This excellent white paper is a retirement income planning
"buffet" - first reviewing the two main opposing philosophies, and then
the range of strategies that span the divide.
Angela Ashton,
PortfolioConstruction Forum
| 21-11-14 |
Research |
|
Managing sequencing risk - buckets v rebalancing
The staple of retirement planning - save a percentage of income - makes
it surprisingly difficult to ever reach retirement. The alternative is
much easier and more successful.
Michael Kitces, Pinnacle Advisory Group
| 13-11-14 |
Research paper |
|
Bill Sharpe on retirement income planning
One of the originators of CAPM, Sharpe (along with Markowitz and Miller)
was awarded the 1990 Nobel Prize in economics. I sat down with him to
discuss retirement income planning.
Robert Huebscher, Advisor Perspectives
| 28-10-14 |
Interview |
|
Phrases that should be banished from retirement planning
The words we use and how we frame concepts have a powerful impact.
Perhaps the most crucial change in our retirement planning language is
simply to rename "retirement".
Michael Kitces, Pinnacle Advisory Group
| 27-10-14 |
Opinion |
|
Down the retirement risk zone with gun and camera
This particularly relevant review of literature on sequencing risk
considers the impact of Australia's age pension on retirement spending
strategies.
Angela Ashton, PortfolioConstruction Forum
| 15-10-14 |
Research |
|
Retirement risk, rising equity glidepaths & valuation-based AA
The dynamic duo (Kitces and Pfau) are back in their search for the
ultimate truth about retirement income planning and how to structure
portfolios to minimise drawdowns.
Angela Ashton, PortfolioConstruction Forum
| 03-10-14 |
Research |
|
The crisis in retirement planning
Robert Merton, 1997 Nobel Prize winner, has recently penned an article
about his views on retirement planning. There are some interesting take
aways for Australian practitioners.
Angela Ashton, PortfolioConstruction Forum
| 03-09-14 |
Research |
|
Behavioural finance vs standard finance
This paper is a great introduction to why behavioural finance is quickly
becoming recognised as a field that can add real value to the wealth
management industry.
Angela Ashton, PortfolioConstruction Forum
| 26-07-14 |
Research |
|
Investing in communicating about investing
As investment professionals, we live investing every day. We spend
excessive time reporting and not enough 'rapporting.'
Prof Jack Gray, UTS
| 21-07-14 |
Opinion |
|
Changes in retirement and the retirement spending smile
Most research assumes retirees maintain a consistent standard of
living. A new study disproves this, implying we may be overestimating
funds needed to retire by up to 20%.
Michael Kitces, Pinnacle Advisory Group
| 26-05-14 |
Opinion |
|
Don't save 10% of income (spend just 50% of every raise)
The staple of retirement planning - save a percentage of income - makes
it surprisingly difficult to ever reach retirement. The alternative is
much easier and more successful.
Michael Kitces, Pinnacle Advisory Group
| 20-06-14 |
Opinion |
|
Home price beliefs in Australia
Are we any good at estimating the values of our homes? Surprisingly, on
average we are, according to a RBA study. It also found a link to
weightings of risky assets in portfolios.
Angela Ashton, PortfolioConstruction Forum
| 06-05-14 |
Opinion |
|
Longevity risk aversion and optimal safe withdrawal rates
Over recent months, we've highlighted one school of research on funding
retirement income, being the sustainable withdrawal rate approach. This
paper takes a very different approach.
Angela Ashton, PortfolioConstruction Forum
| 07-05-14 |
Research |
|
Investing for retirement: the defined contribution challenge
Target date funds are becoming the workhorse for DC plans but there are
problems with the approach. This paper offers a portfolio construction
framework to overcome them.
Ben Inker & Martin Tarlie, GMO
| 08-04-14 |
White paper |
|
Age banding - a model for planning retirement income needs
Over recent months, we've highlighted one school of research on funding
retirement income, being the sustainable withdrawal rate approach. This
paper takes a very different approach.
Angela Ashton, PortfolioConstruction Forum
| 04-04-14 |
Research |
|
Monitoring the success of target date funds
As the logic goes, retired clients deplete their portfolios, and more
pass away as the years go by, so a firm with aging clients is akin to a
rapidly depreciating asset. But is this true?
Sean Henaghan, AMP Capital Investors
| 24-03-14 |
White paper |
|
Is the danger of an aging client base overstated?
As the logic goes, retired clients deplete their portfolios, and more
pass away as the years go by, so a firm with aging clients is akin to a
rapidly depreciating asset. But is this true?
Michael Kitces, Pinnacle Advisory Group
| 18-03-14 |
Opinion |
|
Safe withdrawal rates in retirement - an Australian perspective
A new research paper looks specifically at withdrawal rates in the
Australian context, confirming the legislated minimums for account-based
pensions are much too high.
Angela Ashton, PortfolioConstruction Forum
| 12-02-14 |
Research |
|
Determining withdrawal rates using historical data
William Bengen established the 4% rule - and showed a higher exposure to
equities was better for retirement portfolios.
Angela Ashton, PortfolioConstruction Forum
| 06-02-14 |
Research |
|
Inflation, uncertainty and portfolio management
Will QE ruin retirement? Looking back at the risks inflation has
presented in the past helps us look forward to the potential
consequences.
Dr Susan Gosling, MLC
| 01-01-14 |
Opinion |
|
Retirement monies - what to consider? What to do.
Baby boomer retirees need an investment approach that delivers both the
income they need and maintains the flexibility to meet their other
objectives too.
Aaron Minney, Challenger
| 29-11-13 |
Resources |
|
Improving target-date funds
Target-date funds are one of the fastest-growing segments of the funds
industry. However, most have two shortcomings that can be improved.
AQR Capital Management
| 14-11-13 |
White Paper |
|
Managing 3 shock risks for the next decade
Three key shock risks will affect investors over the next decade,
requiring a real difference in how we construct portfolios for
retirement.
Nick Bullman, CheckRisk
| 30-10-13 |
Opinion |
|
Should equity exposure really decrease in retirement?
The conventional wisdom is that retirees should reduce their equity
exposure throughout retirement as their time horizon shortens - in
reality, the ideal may actually be the exact opposite.
Michael Kitces, Pinnacle Advisory Group
| 07-10-13 |
Opinion |
|
Investing in a debt-fuelled world
Deleveraging will leave a lasting impact - and meeting the challenges it
presents investors will be critical to everyone operating in the new
financial landscape.
Prof Amin Rajan, Create Research
| 24-08-13 |
White paper |
|
Does lending to debtors make sense for bond investors?
Net foreign assets, a measure of a country’s net wealth, can reliably
predict future defaults - allocating to countries with net wealth rather
than net debt leads to superior returns.
Andy Seaman, Stratton Street Capital
| 22-08-13 |
Resources |
|
A multi-speed world
Recorded exclusively for PortfolioConstruction Forum PIMCO's CEO,
Mohammed El-Erian, discusses the outlook for QE, whether Australia can
continue to escape the new normal - and what it means for portfolios.
Mohammed El-Erian, PIMCO
| 21-08-13 |
Opinion |
|
Lifecycle investing - the Australian context
Recorded exclusively for PortfolioConstruction Forum, Prof. Jack Gray
explains why lifecycle investing concepts needs adaptation for the
Australian context.
Prof Jack Gray, UTS | 21-08-13 |
Opinion |
|
Managing the money-weighted return problem
Recorded exclusively for PortfolioConstruction Forum, Alan Brown argues
that what really matters to people is money-weighted rates of return.
Alan Brown, Schroders | 21-08-13 |
Opinion |
|
Rethinking investing for income vs wealth
Recorded exclusively for PortfolioConstruction Forum, Nobel Laureate
Robert Merton discusses moving to an income goal for the retirement
phase of an investor's lifecycle.
Prof. Robert Merton, Dimensional Fund Advisors | 02-08-13 |
Opinion |
|
Financial planning: a look from the outside in
Regardless of whether lifecycle investing is for you and your clients,
there are valuable lessons in this paper by a financial adviser who has
embraced the approach.
Angela Ashton, PortfolioConstruction Forum | 05-08-13 |
Research |
|
Why frequent portfolio tinkering won't pay off
Frequent adjustment of portfolios is counterproductive even if costs are
cheap, according to a study on the period of "optimal inattention".
Dr Andrew Abel, Wharton University | 02-08-13 |
Opinion |
|
Superannuation’s contribution to Australia’s economic future
Australia faces big economic challenges - meaning superannuation will
inevitably feel pressure for reform which will encompass four key
changes.
John Daley, Grattan Institute | 02-08-13 |
White Paper |
|
Is the 4% rule folly?
Defining the
failure of a retirement investment strategy as the chance of running out
of money in retirement leads us to try to minimise this risk. But is
that the right approach?
Angela Ashton, PortfolioConstruction Forum | 30-07-13 |
Research |
|
Risky business
According to a recent survey, 37% of retirees cannot tolerate any
portfolio losses in any one year. Even conservative portfolios would
have failed that test over the past 25 years.
DFS Portfolio Solutions | 26-07-13 |
Opinion |
|
The retirement risk zone
This paper is a valuable addition to
research on safe withdrawal rates for retirement portfolios. It confirms
the 4% safe withdrawal rate may not be so safe for today's conditions.
Angela Ashton, PortfolioConstruction Forum | 23-07-13 |
Research |
|
Asset valuations & safe
portfolio withdrawal rates
This paper is a valuable addition to research on safe withdrawal
rates for retirement portfolios. It confirms the 4% safe withdrawal rate
may not be so safe for today's conditions.
Angela Ashton, PortfolioConstruction Forum | 15-07-13 |
Research |
|
Retirement withdrawals - the
historic return dilemma
The findings of this paper suggest that legislated minimum pension
withdrawal rates may be too high and lead retirees to run out of money
sooner than planned.
Angela Ashton, PortfolioConstruction Forum | 11-07-13 |
Opinion |
|
Longevity in the age of Twitter
In this talk Larry Fink paints an interesting picture of the trends,
challenges and issues resulting from retirement funding, and the impact
on the global economy in future.
Larry Fink, BlackRock | 08-07-13 |
Opinion |
|
Issues Paper: Lifecycle
investing
Lifecycle investing considers the whole of a person's life to ensure
acceptable standards of living are achieved consistently. It differs
from more traditional approaches to financial planning in a number of
important ways.
PortfolioConstruction Forum | 03-07-13 |
Research |
|
Understanding retirement
sequencing risk
What really does, and does not, cause a retirement plan to run out
of money? The true danger for many is not a market crash or black swan
event.
Michael Kitces, Pinnacle Advisory Group | 22-05-13 |
Resources |
|
Meeting the longevity challenge
Misjudging longevity can have a very detrimental impact quality of
retirement. A strategic approach is needed to better manage longevity
implications for portfolios.
David Williams, MyLongevity | 22-05-13 |
Opinion |
|
Money’s worth - are annuities
good value for money?
Many clients
who buy home or car insurance accept they may never receive any monetary
benefit. Annuities offer clients more value per dollar spent than common
general insurance products.
Challenger Retirement Income Research | 24-05-13 |
White Paper |
|
An introduction to lifecycle
theory
The essence of lifecycle theory is that portfolio outcomes
should contribute to the attainment of an individual's goals and desires
in life.
David Bell, St Davids Rd Advisory | 10-05-13 |
Opinion |
|
Mortality risk could be the
death of you
It is unfortunate that most people spend much more time considering
and modeling investment risk than mortality risk.
David Bell, St Davids Rd Advisory | 12-04-13 |
Opinion |
|
Safe withdrawal rates in a low
yield environment
Just because
starting conditions are suboptimal does not guarantee that safe
withdrawal rates will fail today's retirees.
Michael Kitces, Pinnacle Advisory Group | 15-03-13 |
Opinion |
|
The future of super
Does retirement income public policy and the design of the super
system need to move into a new direction?
The Hon Paul Keating | 07-12-12 |
Opinion |
|
How long will people live?
Misjudging longevity can dramatically impact quality of
retirement - and the average retirement may be up to five years longer
than many expect.
Challenger Retirement Income Research | 14-11-12 |
White Paper |
|
Boomers, herding, denial and zeitgeist
The current financial advice model serving retirees is suboptimal
for their needs. This paper challenges some commonly-used approaches to
managing retiree portfolios.
Lukasz de Pourbaix, Lonsec & Wade Matterson, Milliman | 31-10-12 |
White Paper |
|
The ABC of sequencing risk
Volatility is a risk for any
portfolio that has cash flows, irrespective of investment time horizon.
The culprit is sequencing risk, the risk of returns occurring in an
adverse order.
Challenger Retirement Income Research | 24-10-12 |
White Paper |
|
Undiscovered Fund: Australian RMBS income
A unique fund in the Australian
market for those seeking solid income yields in excess of traditional
yield-focused funds...
Zenith Investment Partners | 28-09-12 |
Research Report |
|
Is saving a percentage of income bad
advice?
"Save a healthy portion of your income every year from the start
of your working years" is standard retirement planning
advice. But a better path may not be to save a
flat percentage of income every year...
Michael Kitces, Pinnacle Advisory | 11-09-12 |
White Paper |
|
Advice tips for older clients
The client base of many
financial advisers is aging - and older clients present many challenges.
Advisers need to adapt their advice delivery to create a user-friendly
experience for older clients...
David Greenslade, Strategi | 04-09-12 |
Opinion |
|
EM bonds - retirement income of
the future?
The process of reallocation to EM bonds is likely to accelerate,
creating more liquidity and stability, and adding to their
attractiveness for retirement income needs...
Featuring Ramin Toloui, PIMCO | 22-08-12 |
Resources |
|
Undiscovered Fund: Australian equity income
A simple, high conviction
Australian equity income fund ideally suited to income-seeking investors
with a focus on after tax returns...
Zenith Investment Partners | 06-07-12 |
Research Report |
|
How do
you estimate your client's life expectancy?
Many advisers set every client's
life expectancy to a conservative 95 or 100. But the majority of clients
will never live this long - and being so
conservative can greatly impinge on their enjoyment of retirement.
Michael Kitces, Pinnacle Advisory | 07-05-12 |
Opinion |
|
Spending flexibility and safe withdrawal rates
How do we take into account the
trade-off between clients' willingness to risk running out of money in
return for enjoying their retirement portfolio now?
Bob Veres, Inside Information | 24-04-12 |
Review |
|
|