Taking Control of Your Superannuation: This is Super Important

Alec: [00:00:56] Welcome to Super Saturday and Equity Mates media series on superannuation proudly brought to you by super hero who are now disrupting traditional superannuation on their platform with recent government changes to super legislation here in Australia. A hundred billion dollars of Australians money is in underperforming super products. And a lot of people are feeling a little in the dark when it comes to their super Equity Mates media in partnership with superhero are going to shine a light on the super industry with the aim of making Australians wake up and take control of their super over three Saturdays and four different podcasts. We'll be bringing you all the information you need to help you take more control. So don't miss it. Make sure you subscribe to Equity Mates get started investing comedian, the Economist and you're in good company to hear all the episodes now Equity Mates. You may be surprised to hear my voice kicking off the show. It's it's not the dulcet tones of Bryce Leskie, who's introduced close to four hundred episodes. And that's because we're here for the very first Equity Mates media crossover episode. We've kicked Bryce out of the studio. I finally got my way and I'm joined by Adam from comedian, Vae economist and Sophie from your own good company, Adam and Sophie. Welcome to the very first crossover episode. [00:02:23][87.3]

Adam: [00:02:24] Thank you, Alec. Great to be here. Exciting to be part of, dare I say, the team with finally those pesky co-hosts out of the way, working that track also with some quality content. [00:02:37][12.6]

Alec: [00:02:38] And Sophie, thanks for joining us as well. I assume just like Adam, you are the team in the you're in good company podcast team? [00:02:47][9.4]

Sophie: [00:02:48] Well, yes, probably I would say so. And I'll use your adjective this morning. I can say I'm very excited to be here. [00:02:57][9.8]

Alec: [00:02:57] So in this episode, we're going to talk about how we look at superannuation. We're going to frame the problem of Australian's attitude to superannuation. And we're going to finish with some tips and tricks on how every Australian can think about this. Super. So, Sophie and Adam, let's kick it off by getting a little personal and talking about how we think about super. I think the headline for most Australians is not enough, not enough thought goes into super. So, Sophie, let's start with you. How do you think about Super? [00:03:34][36.7]

Sophie: [00:03:35] To be honest, I am probably in that category of people that aren't thinking about their superannuation enough, and I've only just started really thinking about it. But once I actually started looking into it a bit more, I was like, oh, like this like matters a lot. [00:03:51][16.1]

Alec: [00:03:52] And Adam, for you, you know, we had to get started investing earlier this year. And if memory serves, you tried to day tried your super or something. [00:04:02][9.9]

Adam: [00:04:03] Once an advisor, Alec, especially my super funds have got some sort of delay. My super fund had had a two day delay in between changing your options and that coming into effect. So I certainly wouldn't advise trying to day trade. They trade your super, but I now love super. I'm in my forties now. Fair to say that wasn't always the case when I was younger, in my 20s, wasn't thinking a great deal about super. But now that I guess I'm a bit further down the road, I can see where Super is now as opposed to when I first started working, where you're not really talking about large sums of money, but now it's kind of building through the wonder of compound interest. And yeah, I'm actually I'm actually really excited with where it's at and I track it way more than I should, but it's kind of fun. [00:04:47][43.9]

Alec: [00:04:48] How often is way more than you should? [00:04:49][1.5]

Adam: [00:04:50] Oh, look, if I look at my share portfolio once a day, I'm probably looking at super once a week. Just yeah. Yeah. I like to just check in on on the performance and see whether I need to make any adjustments. I worked out a tiny ten point to to change my options, which should put most people off but me on my way. It's only ten dollars. Ten bucks. I could just I could shift it into some some sustainable options within the suit because I think that's going to go well and then see how that goes for two weeks before changing it into something else. So yeah. And it's good, but I can definitely see the value in it now. I was actually really lucky, so I got into a pretty good I think it's been a pretty well performing fund, which was UniSuper at the time. I actually used to work for a university and to start with, we were putting in twenty one per cent of my salary into super, which is enormous in the scheme of things until I found out it was only yeah, wow. We were only obliged to put in 14 per cent. So I'm like, well I'm taking that seven percent back. But for a while that yeah it was, it was going great. Great guns. [00:05:52][62.1]

Alec: [00:05:52] Yeah, no, I mean, I'm definitely in the same boat as you, Sophie, I haven't thought about it enough. And in preparing for this episode in this Super Series, I had to take a long, hard look at myself at times and wonder why I hadn't put more thought into it. I mean, I didn't even know the fees I was paying. I've hosted an investing podcast for four and a half years. Our number one policy here at Equity Mates is that we hate phase. And yet when it comes to super, I was in the dark. [00:06:27][34.3]

Adam: [00:06:27] I think it's because I think it's because people don't think of it early on as an investment. It's almost like because it's mandatory, because people feel like you kind of you know, it's it's guarantee. It's a it's a government initiative that you have to do. It's almost like paying tax. People look at it like I've just got this money that comes out of my pay that goes into this super fund. It goes into this thing called super. I don't even really think about what that is, whereas if you say how you got some money, you should invest it. Then people go, oh, okay, I'm going to have a think about where I'm going to put that money, where I'm going to invest, what companies I might buy. Maybe I'll buy some ETFs and then you take that interest. Whereas super, I think people just kind of get passive about it and they're like, well, it's just this thing I have to pay. I guess I've got too much to think about already. So I'll just pay whatever I need to pay into super almost like a tax or a bill of some kind. And and then they don't really think about it anymore after that. But yeah, it's definitely it's definitely worth paying attention to now. [00:07:24][56.6]

Alec: [00:07:25] Now the the other side of it is people don't seem to think about it enough when they have an account and when they're, you know, working and putting money, money into it. But the choice of super account is also super important. Nice. And yeah. [00:07:41][16.7]

Speaker 4: [00:07:42] Yeah, well, I don't know the comedian, but I, I'm trying. So we'll get into the we'll [00:07:50][8.3]

Alec: [00:07:50] get into some of the numbers and I guess the problem of super and why Australians need to wake up. But before we do, I just want to know how you guys chose your super fund. Now you don't have to name which fund you with or anything like that, but I'd be interested to know if there was thought or it was just a default. Whatever my employer or whatever my parents suggest, [00:08:13][23.1]

Sophie: [00:08:15] I just went with whatever my employer at the time had available. It was the one that they were using and I was young as well, like I was starting out in my first job. So like, of course you have no idea what superannuation is and you almost don't really care because you're like, it's my retirement money and I'm like young, so whatever. So I know I should care a lot more. But no, I just went with whatever my my employer had and it's actually a pretty OK fund, so I've just stuck with it thus far, but probably turn into a little bit of research and say if it's actually the right one for me. [00:08:48][33.5]

Alec: [00:08:49] And how about you Adam? What are the Mr Day trader? [00:08:52][3.4]

Adam: [00:08:52] And I've got 15 super funds. Just shift money around between them. No, I haven't. So yeah, I know back in the early days you didn't kind of get a choice. It was just you would suddenly get signed up to the default super fund of your employer. Most, I don't think, even gave you the option of being a super fund, which I think now is pretty common for a lot of people to have super all over the place. You know, if you've worked a lot of jobs, especially for most of us, where we start out working casual jobs down at the local cafe or whatever it is, you know, they just go, well, this is a super fund we use. So you get signed up to whatever super fund, you know, the cafe down the road using. That's not really a long term view. So but now I've been with I've been with my super fund. Now the main one, I guess I consolidated into into UniSuper when I was working at a university, which is a an industry super fund. And so I've been with them now for for quite a long time, made sure that I pulled all that my other funds into that one and consolidated them to save on fees. But yeah, that's that, that's where my money's still at the moment. [00:09:57][64.4]

Alec: [00:09:58] So you've mentioned a couple of things there that will well, want to get into in terms of how you can optimise your super whoever you're with. But look, this this whole Super Saturday series is all about waking Australians up and getting them to think about this super. For most people, it's going to be your largest asset class or maybe your second largest, depending on on your your house. But it's so important and people don't think about it. We've partnered with Superhero who are looking to disrupt the superannuation industry. And if you've ever heard the founder, John, speak about Super, you'll you'll realise how much he cares about Australians, I guess, waking up. So he he's some of the stats that we've been able to pull and I think. Yeah. And so if we just have a chat about them and I'll I'll ask you some questions as we go to give you an idea of the size of the Super Bowl, three point one trillion dollars in superannuation assets and over the 12 months from March 20, 20 to March 20. Twenty one, there was a thirteen point nine percent increase in the value of total superannuation assets. I think it's important just to pause there for a second and think about the size of this this asset pool and how quickly it's growing. It's it's pretty phenomenal. I mean, super funds put in a bid to buy Sydney Airport earlier this month, and they are buying everything from, you know, electricity assets in Australia to, you know, the highways overseas and everything in between. It's it's such a big pool of money. And for 90 per cent of households super in the family home are the main assets that support their their retirement. And yet we don't think about it. I guess then the follow on is with such a big pool of assets, there's heaps of fees. So 30 billion dollars was paid in super fees last year alone. And there's a variety of other costs that can come with super things like life insurance, income protection, payday insurance, which I'm going to be honest, I actually don't even know what that is to either of you guys know what it stands for. [00:12:23][145.5]

Adam: [00:12:24] It's temporary and permanent disability, I believe. [00:12:26][1.9]

Alec: [00:12:27] And there you go. Adam, you are the super expert. [00:12:29][1.6]

Adam: [00:12:33] Yeah I am all over it. Yeah it's worth knowing, cause there's a lot of stuff that came out probably six to 12 months ago around all the different insurance offerings that form part of part of like default super packages. And it's worth it's worth definitely having a look at what insurance you've got and what, you know, on top of the fees you're paying, what insurance products you're purchasing because you are purchasing them. Right. Like you see those ads for life insurance on TV. If you ever watch daytime television, you're watching, you know, chilling out in front of Young and the Restless. And some ad comes on for life insurance. And you just look at it and you're like suckers. You know who who's signing up for that? And then you go, you take your super fund. You I'm like, wow, I've actually got that. I've got a policy. So it's worth knowing what policies you've got. It's worth knowing how much they costing you. It's worth knowing what you're even Covid for. Because a lot of especially like that's TPD insurance, a lot of people don't realise exactly what's covered and what isn't covered. People there's one I think is income protection is the big one where where people assume they've got income in income protection insurance. And I think we saw it a lot with Covid was people were out of work because of Covid. They went to their super to the insurers and said, I'm I'm here to cash in my income protection insurance. And they're like, no, that's not covered as part of the policy. So. So you really want to understand? I think, you know, read the product disclosure statement or whatever information you can get your hands on to really understand what you are covered for and what you're not covered for. If you're because you're paying for it, it's your money, you it's your super. So you want to know what you're getting. [00:14:08][95.6]

Alec: [00:14:09] I'm going to be honest. I don't know if I have any my side. What about you guys, Sophie? Do you know if you're paying for them? [00:14:18][9.0]

Sophie: [00:14:18] I feel like Alec and I have some serious work to do with our superannuation. Like I didn't get it totally under control. And, well, just like we need to sit down and have a day strategy day and work out what the hell is it that's too bad, because I also have no idea. [00:14:34][15.9]

Alec: [00:14:36] Maybe maybe we're not so much the A team. Maybe we were chosen to do this crossover episode because we're the the typical Australian based on what [00:14:45][9.0]

Adam: [00:14:45] I was promised experts, what's going on here. I've finally shed Thomas... [00:14:50][5.0]

Alec: [00:14:54] No, no, no, I don't know. You are the expert. Little did you know that you're the expert. [00:14:57][3.7]

Adam: [00:14:58] We're in trouble in any scenario where everyone says, Adam, you're the expert, then this ship is sinking. [00:15:04][6.3]

Alec: [00:15:05] So I guess the if we if we put a bow in the face, 30 billion in super phase, a whole raft of potential insurances, which may be useful or may not be useful, most Australians don't know what they're paying for. And, you know, that's that's dumb. Yeah. So sorry to say it, but it's it's kind of dumb. [00:15:26][21.2]

Sophie: [00:15:27] Don't single me out here. This is you as well, Alex. [00:15:29][2.3]

Adam: [00:15:30] Yeah, no, I'm saying I'm saying together with I think there's a large proportion of people that have never, never even logged in like this is I saw some stat I don't have it of hand, but a lot of people that have never even like it's like online banking. Right. It's pretty easy to log in and set up an account. I work in I.T. during the. And I know people in it that have never logged into their super. So it's pretty common, like you guys aren't alone, that's for sure. But it's pretty common that people just don't aren't looking at this stuff. [00:16:02][32.4]

Alec: [00:16:03] So. So we've touched on the size of the super pool and the amount in fees that Australians are paying every year. But but that's not the only reason that Australians need to wake up. A key one is that a lot of super funds are actually underperforming their peers and the general market. So so if you do want to tell us a little bit about just how big this underperformance problem is. [00:16:29][26.1]

Sophie: [00:16:29] Yeah, well, it's huge. And I think at the moment, the government's trying to make a lot of, you know, new regulations in the super space because there are a lot of underperformers, but 100 billion of Australians money is in an underperforming super product, which is just crazy because you have autonomy and control over this type of product that you're using. So really, no one should be in an underperforming super product. But if we're not aware of it, then we're not going to know that three million accounts are in underperforming super products and a member in a worst performing super product could be 98000 Dollars worse off in retirement, which is like I just can't even fathom that kind of money myself. So why are you keeping that up in a separate product? [00:17:16][46.5]

Adam: [00:17:16] Yeah, yeah. That pays for your caravan to go travelling around Australia in your grey years. [00:17:22][5.3]

Sophie: [00:17:26] That's a nice caravan. [00:17:26][0.5]

Adam: [00:17:29] Yeah, $98 grand, it's not even that good these days, I don't think. I want one with a car that fits underneath it. [00:17:34][5.6]

Sophie: [00:17:35] Can we can we let it come? [00:17:36][1.2]

Alec: [00:17:36] You want one of those big American RVs? [00:17:38][1.7]

Sophie: [00:17:39] You get a bedroom for Alec and I. [00:17:40][0.6]

Alec: [00:17:52] But look, I think I think that if we go back to this issue of underperformance, I think what you said there, Sophie, the fact that we're all choosing our super funds are we all have the choice. And yet three million accounts are underperforming. It's pretty stark. And it just shows, I guess, you know, I'm going to use the tag line again, but it shows why Australians need to wake up. [00:18:14][22.0]

Sophie: [00:18:14] Can you imagine, if you like, let's say, because it's just a managed fund. Right. And so you guys are well aware of managed funds, but if you went to your fund manager and you're like, all right, hit me how we go this year? And here's what we got, we did point one percent year below. [00:18:30][15.8]

Sophie: [00:18:30] What do you what am I paying you for? [00:18:33][2.4]

Sophie: [00:18:33] I'll keep my money. If you are amazing, you wouldn't dare say there. [00:18:38][5.3]

Sophie: [00:18:39] I say you'd be outraged with me if your fund manager came back with numbers like that. And yet I think that's what's happening in a lot of these super funds, is they're just kind of they're taking fees. They're they know that people are not paying a lot of attention. They're just kind of going, well, we're just this is this is how we this is where we landed this year. We didn't do too good, but no one really asked any questions. So so we'll just carry on. But I think I think if you start thinking about super as a as a managed fund with someone in control of it and that person can be you know, you can really influence that now. And so think of it like that rather than this just this sort of pool of money that or that you pay. [00:19:17][38.1]

Sophie: [00:19:18] Do you guys know the annual performance of your super funds currently right now? [00:19:22][4.5]

Alec: [00:19:23] I woudn't ask that Sophie. [00:19:23][0.2]

Sophie: [00:19:24] Yeah, Adam should know you're excused. [00:19:26][2.4]

Alec: [00:19:28] No, I actually do know. And I want to give a shout out to the government's new website that we can touch on now, but we'll expand on later. It's it's why the ATO and it compares all super funds because I didn't know what the performance of my fund was. But then I had a look on that website while I was preparing for this episode. And now I know exactly that. It's I don't know how it's arranged. I guess there's a number of products, but between three and a half percent and seven and a half percent, it's one of those like super products where an investor, depending on your lifestyle state and I know how much fees I'm paying and everything because the government now lays it all out for me. It makes it very easy. So so, yes, I do know the range of my fund. [00:20:20][52.1]

Sophie: [00:20:21] Yeah. My and my super fund tends to my performance tends to fluctuate wildly with my poor decisions that I make when I'm trading my super fund. So so yeah, I think, I think when they're comparing super funds they there's like a basic or balanced option that everyone gets by default if you don't change it. So I think that's what they use when they're when they're kind of looking at performance and comparing performances. They take that that I think it's a it's called balanced or default or something. I don't know what it's. Probably varies between funds, but each fund has its own version of that balanced portfolio, and I think they then use that to compare. So I don't know exactly what what my fund was in terms of performance to a number. But I know it was definitely it was in the top 10 performing super fund, so I'm happy to see it in that list. [00:21:08][47.7]

Alec: [00:21:09] Nice. What about you, Sophie? Do you know? [00:21:11][1.7]

Sophie: [00:21:11] Yeah, I'm the same. It was in an article in my fund raising the top ten. I was like, that's my fee. But like, no, [00:21:19][7.7]

Alec: [00:21:19] I don't know all the due diligence you need the other day, Tom, we're having some [00:21:24][4.5]

Sophie: [00:21:24] trouble on that show. And Tom's like, what's your I said, what's your Internet connexion like? Is like, I'm getting I'm getting this many Meg. And that's not really enough. Is that how many should I be getting? I was like, I don't know either. Like, I don't pay any attention to it. I just know, can I watch Netflix? Does Netflix work? Yes. Then then we're good. It's a bit like that with the super funny kind of guy was top ten. So, you know, the number doesn't really [00:21:46][22.2]

Alec: [00:21:46] matter because it's in the recommendations. Yeah, exactly. [00:21:50][3.4]

Alec: [00:21:54] Now the the problems with super don't stop there. We've talked about the amount of fees and the costs that you may be paying, even though you don't realise that the problems of underperformance, which Sofiane items seem to have avoided. So well done to the two of you. But there's another there's another key problem that, you know is a reason why Australians need to wake up and think about super. And that's the problem of multiple accounts. So, Adam, as our resident super expert do you want to tell us a little bit about that? [00:22:33][39.2]

Sophie: [00:22:33] Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So I think it's a really common problem and it's going to get better because I think employers are now asking the question when people start and people are entitled to bring your own super fund to you, to your new work, but I think 27 per cent of Australians have more than one super fund account, which means you're paying more than one set of fees. So that's going to Iowa is super. And the problem is, it's like the thing is, it's really easy now to find and consolidate those super funds. So there's a lot of resources around. There's the money smart website from the Australian government. There's some good info now on that on the website. But, you know, there was some research from the Centre for International Finance and Regulation. It found that less than one third of people are actually even reading their superannuation statements. Four fifths are rarely or never thinking about making changes to their investment options. So, you know, there's a lot of, dare I say, apathy around super funds nearly some more. So that's nearly two thirds can't name the age at which they can start accessing their superannuation fund. I think I kind of fall into that category as well. I just assume it's whenever I decide to retire. But if I decide to retire tomorrow, then I. I can't get it yet. [00:23:45][72.5]

Alec: [00:23:46] So I Googled this after retirement start. I think it's 60, but I think it's going to go right. [00:23:52][6.3]

Sophie: [00:23:53] Make us work longer. [00:23:54][0.6]

Alec: [00:23:55] Sucks. Yeah. [00:23:56][1.3]

Sophie: [00:23:59] And only 35 percent think of themselves as well informed on matters regarding superannuation, which that lines up pretty well with this show, to be honest. So with the best. Thirty five percent of us that think of themselves as well informed. [00:24:11][12.2]

Alec: [00:24:16] Well done. I think that's fair. We will be well informed. [00:24:20][4.2]

Sophie: [00:24:20] Just give us some time. [00:24:21][0.7]

Sophie: [00:24:24] Do you guys have Sophie, do you have more than one super fund at the moment? [00:24:28][4.3]

Sophie: [00:24:29] No, I've always just had one because I have an older sister and she kind of went through that whole process of changing jobs before I did. So every time I got a form for a new job, I was like, what do I do here? And she helped me with that. So that was great. But I have so many friends. I was actually speaking to my housemates the other day. One of my housemates had three and you're paying three fees. So he consolidated. But he said it's super easy. I mean, these days you just go into my glove and into the website and everything's like TFN. So it's super easy. But yeah, imagine paying literally. It's like paying. Yeah. Three fees for the same thing. [00:25:02][33.3]

Alec: [00:25:02] It's stupid to answer your question, Adam. I did, but now I don't. But I think the the thing around multiple fees and multiple sets of insurance is you just don't realise that the money it's not in your bank account so you don't feel the fees going out. It's not real money in some ways in people's mind. It's this mystical future money that other people are managing it. [00:25:26][23.9]

Alec: [00:25:27] Yeah. And I think I think if you can achieve one thing through this episode, through the other episodes in this Super Saturday series is stop thinking about it as future money because it's it's fees that you're paying today and costs insurance costs that you're paying today. [00:25:46][18.8]

Sophie: [00:25:47] Yeah. And with and with compounding interest on, you know, and any. Investment, if you can take that, what even if they're relatively small fees now that they can make, as you mentioned earlier, Sophie, you know, ninety eight thousand dollars difference at the end of the day. So definitely worth definitely worth having a think about. And, you know, this is I mean, this is exactly why the government made it mandatory, I think, because people in their 20s and 30s kind of not really thinking about the long term early on, you just kind of, you know, living and partying and spending. And it's only when you start to get a bit older, you are you know, maybe I need to think about what I'm going to do in retirement. So, yeah, I think I think that's why it's a good thing that that super exists. But you still want to try and you want to keep you want to keep that money for yourself. You don't want to be paying it out in fees if you don't have to. [00:26:37][50.0]

Alec: [00:26:37] Now, over the course of this series will be unpacking different elements of super, you know, on comedian by economist Adam and Thomas will be talking about the macro economic big picture. They'll be talking about recent legislative changes and what it all means on your own good company. Sophie and Marty will be talking about taking control of your own super and they'll be interviewing Rachel from Superhero to discuss their new platform and why superhero so passionate about super Bryce. And I will be doing something similar, talking about tips and tricks around you super regardless of your strategy, you know, passive self, manage whatever you want at all with the aim of giving you a number of tools and a number of different, I guess, actions to think about to help you wake up and take control of your super. So we're not going to cover everything in this episode, but we do want to, I guess, touch some high level tips and tricks for everyone to think about. So Adam and Sophie, if we get to that, there's no one size fits all strategy when it comes to super. You know, everyone needs to make their own decision based on their age, how comfortable they are taking investment risk, how long they have before they retire. You know, it's a very personal decision. On top of that, there are some things that every Australian should be doing. So let's go around the table and talk about some of the things that every Australian, regardless of their super strategy, regardless of their stage of life, should be doing. Adam as our resident superegos but if you want to kick us off, what's what's one thing you think every Australian should be, should be thinking about or should be doing. [00:28:33][116.2]

Sophie: [00:28:34] Oh so I think everyone should, should log in first, log in and have a look and understand what's going on. But I keep going back to this advice my mum gave me early on. She was like, she's like go high growth early on. Like this is obviously not financial advice. As Alec says, it should line up with your own your own situation. But but she is like you're young, like, you know, you can ride the peaks and troughs of of of the share market because that's where the money goes. Right. A lot for the majority of it's invested in the share market. So go go with the you know, within each super fund, they'll at least be a kind of a balanced conservative and a high growth option. You know, I think I think it's really it's really good to kind of consider that high growth option, particularly while you've still got a lot of your working life ahead of you. You can ride out the peaks and troughs that changes as you get older. Once you sort of hit 50, 60 years old, you're nearing retirement. You know, we saw it with Covid where the share market kind of tanks like 30 per cent. You don't want you don't want that to happen at sixty five years old when you're just about to retire. But if that happens, when you're you know, when you're 30 years old and that you know, you can you can obviously the share market then bounces back. You're back on track. And in fact, it bounced back, you know, with a vengeance. It's now it's now higher than ever. So so I think you understand what options you've got within the super fund and consider what's right for you. But definitely for me, going high growth early has really I can see that difference at that's made now [00:30:06][91.9]

Alec: [00:30:08] Uh, important to stress that that's our strategy and everyone has their own strategy and should speak to professionals if they're unsure of their strategy. Do not take financial advice from a podcast. But, Sophie, if we if we stay on this track of things that every Australian should think about or should do, what's something that you think every Australian should do? [00:30:33][25.7]

Sophie: [00:30:34] I think everyone should be jumping onto the Atos, your super comparison tool. I did it myself for research for all these episodes. And I think it's very beneficial because it kind of just lays it out all the different criteria. You can say it in an easy format and compare it to. Animation fans easily, one of the functions that I did really like was you could one of the criteria was whether the superannuation stayed the same the whole time or if it changes with your life cycle, which is kind of what Adam just touched on a little bit. So it was easy just to be able to identify funds that could be a little bit more valuable to your needs or wants. So, yeah, I think it's just an easy place to say all the super tools that are out there and make your own comparisons so that you can be in a fund that isn't underperforming. [00:31:20][46.0]

Alec: [00:31:22] Mm hmm. Yeah, I can't second that enough. I think, you know, the government keeps a lot of slack these days, not not least from Adam and Thomas on CVE, just like we said. [00:31:38][16.0]

Alec: [00:31:41] But I think these recent changes around transparency of super funds and the reporting tools that they've created are really good and really help Australians have, I guess, get a grasp of where their money is being invested and how that compares both in terms of performance and in terms of fees. So definitely second that one, go and check it out. [00:32:05][24.8]

Sophie: [00:32:06] There's so many more options these days in terms of what you can do within your fund. So, you know, obviously you want to compare funds and see what you've got. But depending on your appetite for further involvement, you know, like if you enjoy, you know, investing and you enjoy kind of, you know, looking at the share market and stuff like that, there is some there's some some really interesting options coming out. Now, there's I think one super fund I looked at had one hundred and forty five ETFs that you could choose from to to to build your portfolio within your super fund. So the level of control these days is is kind of it's really changing. And you can if you want to, you can be more involved and take an interest. [00:32:44][38.0]

Alec: [00:32:44] Well, let's put a pin in that, Adam, because I think I think superheros offering will blow that one hundred and forty relatives out of the water. Yeah, but I think if we just continue on this track of what every Australian should think about for me, we can't go past low fees. You know, whatever strategy you're paying for, whatever, you know, stage of life you're at, if there's one constant rule is don't overpay in fees. And, you know, we said this time and time again on Equity Mates, I'm sure you guys have said it on your shows as well. But small fees over time can make a big difference in returns. And this isn't related to super, but this is a bit of maths that Bryce and I did. I can't remember. I think it was for a book shout out from pre-order. [00:33:35][50.5]

Alec: [00:33:38] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You've got to get up. You have a book I like, [00:33:42][4.2]

Alec: [00:33:45] but this it really demonstrates the difference fees can make over time. So Warren Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway, he took it over in 1965. And if you bought a thousand dollars of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965, by 2019, you'd have twenty seven million dollars. Not that old. Wow. If if Buffett charged a one per cent management fee, that one thousand dollars would have turned into twenty five million rather than twenty seven million. So two million a lot of money, but not not that big a difference. If Buffett charged a two per cent management fee, you would only have nine million dollars. And then if Buffett charged a two percent management fee and a 20 per cent performance fee, which was the standard for hedge funds for years, you would have six point five dollars million. So if you think about the difference between no fees ending up with twenty seven million dollars and the traditional hedge fund fee arrangement, you end up with six point five dollars million. [00:34:53][68.1]

Alec: [00:34:54] It's a big gap. Yeah, that's a lot of cash [00:34:57][2.3]

Sophie: [00:34:57] and two per cent sounds so little as well. [00:34:58][1.6]

Alec: [00:34:59] Yeah, sounds like nothing. It literally could get out of the most luxurious caravan that has ever been created. The Guinness [00:35:08][8.5]

Alec: [00:35:08] World Record. Largest car. Well, but yeah, I think for me it's not about paying the lowest possible fees, it's not about getting 0.01 percent fees. You know, different strategies have different fees. Different managers have different fees. But it's just about knowing what you're paying and not overpaying. [00:35:26][17.9]

Sophie: [00:35:27] That's a really good point. [00:35:27][0.6]

Alec: [00:35:28] So any any other tips and tricks or actions that every Australian should take, regardless of their their super strategy? [00:35:37][9.4]

Alec: [00:35:39] I'm not the expert. [00:35:40][0.5]

Sophie: [00:35:46] I'm waiting to get Adam's advice. Really? That's why I'm here. [00:35:49][3.0]

Alec: [00:35:50] Yeah, well, I think I think one that we touched on earlier that the bears repeating is consolidate your super if you've got multiple accounts, there's no reason for that. You're paying multiple sets of fees. You may be paying for multiple sets of insurance. [00:36:08][17.9]

Sophie: [00:36:09] So consult and review to, you know, like as as we have touched on, you can change funds now. So it's fairly easy to change them. It's as easy as it is to consolidate them. If your fund isn't performing, then shop around, you know, have a look at what's out there. Have a look at how your fund's doing. If you've got multiple ones and you don't have to pick one of the ones that you already have, you could go, you know, go and go and do your comparison. Bit like if you were shopping for, I don't know, car insurance or if you're shopping for any other financial product. There's nothing there's literally nothing stopping you nowadays from from just shopping around and having a look at what's out there in terms of super funds. So you don't have to go with the one that your employer gives you anymore. You don't have to go with the one that your parents think is is a good one. You can you can, you know, plot your own course. [00:36:59][49.7]

Alec: [00:36:59] Well, I think that's a good uplifting note to end this episode on. Everyone should get out there, do their research and plot their own course. If you want help plotting your course, navigating this course, stick around on the Equity Mates media network for the next three weeks will be releasing a number of episodes across our Super Saturdays on Canadian Economist. You're in good company Equity Mates and get started investing, all with the aim of helping you wake up and feel like you've got more control of your superannuation. And it's a big thanks to Super Hero for helping us put on this series. Super Hero are coming out with a new super offering that will help Australians take control of their super. You know, Adam was blown away with the super fund that let you invest in one hundred and forty five ETFs. Well, super here are going to blow Adam's mind then, because [00:38:05][66.0]

Alec: [00:38:09] Yes, actually, we should talk about not letting you set up an account super here. Have a couple of options that really let Australians take control of their super. They have an autopilot option where 70 percent is put into our diversified portfolio and then the remaining 30 percent can be put into six famed ETFs. That's not the part that's going to blow your mind. But then they have a control option where twenty five percent is in a diversified portfolio and then up to seventy five per percent of your superannuation can be directly invested in any company in the ASX 300 or most of the ASX listed ETFs. [00:38:55][45.4]

Alec: [00:38:55] Wow. That is. Yeah that is. But that is good. I mean that's exciting. [00:39:01][6.1]

Sophie: [00:39:02] But I realised we should, we should note that the risks with any share market investing and choosing choosing your company's stock picking. [00:39:10][8.4]

Alec: [00:39:11] Yes. Yeah, yeah. Definitely. Look, it's not for everyone. A lot of people like that. Their superannuation is invested by someone else and don't want to take that control. And I think the message in this episode and the rest of this series is whether you self manage, whether you do the this hybrid model with superhero, whether you get a fund manager to manager in a super fund, whatever the whatever your whatever is right for you, you still need to wake up. You still need to actively make that decision. Australians need to stop being apathetic about this. Super. [00:39:48][36.9]

Sophie: [00:39:50] I feel victimised. [00:39:50][0.4]

Alec: [00:39:51] I feel like working out a lot of self. [00:39:55][4.1]

Alec: [00:39:56] This this is a lot of self talk for me. [00:39:58][2.4]

Alec: [00:39:58] So it's easy session. [00:40:01][2.5]

Alec: [00:40:03] These are my morning affirmations. I will not be apathetic about my super I will wake up. [00:40:08][5.2]

Alec: [00:40:09] I'm just looking [00:40:09][0.3]

Sophie: [00:40:10] forward to having more people to talk to about super. I go to parties and who wants to talk about super serious. [00:40:18][8.1]

Alec: [00:40:18] They get a life. [00:40:19][0.3]

Sophie: [00:40:19] Have you been invited to parties? [00:40:20][0.9]

Alec: [00:40:21] Anybody's best of anybody that's brought up, to be honest. I wonder why they're going to be like that guy always talks about super. [00:40:31][10.4]

Adam: [00:40:33] I saw there was a there was an article where someone was complaining that their super fund only sends them a statement once a year or something like you don't you don't need to wait for your statement to arrive in the mail. This is not this is not nineteen seventy five anymore. You can, you know, you can log on. It's as I say, it's just like Internet banking. You can log in and check out skying, may make some decisions, you know, get control of it through, you don't have to do it every day like I do. That's that's weird and obsessive. But, you know, it's pretty easy to log in and see how it's performing that I think most fans now don't even do that. You do the yearly statement, which is like the official record, but most fans will give you like an indication of where it's at, how it's tracking. So, yeah, I would suggest everyone to do it right now and log in, set up your account. Do I forgot my password? [00:41:22][48.7]

Adam: [00:41:40] All right. Well, look, hopefully if you like Adam and you care way too much about super, you've got something out of this episode, or if you like, Sofiane and waking up for the first time, you going to that forgot your password, logging on and starting to think about it. But yeah, look, over the next three weeks, tune into Canadian economist with Adam. You're in good company with Sophie and Equity Mates and get started investing with myself as we continue unpacking this world of super. All thanks to super hero Adam. Sophie, thanks for joining us. I think we can officially say that we are the team of our respective shows and we forever hold the honour of doing the first Equity Mates crossover episode. [00:42:28][47.6]

Sophie: [00:42:30] Thank you, Alex. Thank you, Sophie. This is unfortunately, this is spoiler it now and now I've got to go back to Thomas and get back to the rest of us, but I spent a lot of fun. Thanks for having me. [00:42:40][9.9]

Sophie: [00:42:40] Thanks. Thanks, Adam. [00:42:40][0.0]

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