What happened in 2021 – Super & Retirement Planning

What happened in 2021 – Super & Retirement Planning

What happened in 2021 – Super & Retirement Planning

Australia most certainly must have had some of the toughest covid restrictions in 2021, with Melbourne in lockdown for a total of 185 days and Sydney taking the second place with 107 days. 

So it is no surprise during that difficult time, to see people heading off to different media to follow the news and get all updates. TV is no longer a sufficient source to stay up to date or to find the information we needed. And we want answers immediately, hence there has been an incredible rise of Google or YouTube usage: searches, video watching and articles reading.  

So let’s check what Australians were doing over 2021. 

Top Australian Google searches in 2021:  

  • NBA,  
  • AFL,  
  • Australia vs India  

With covid occupying our daily activities, it is no surprise to find out, that for the second year in a row: “how to make face masks” was googled more than any other DIY-related search. 

Other DIY searches were: 
making my own: 

  • candles,  
  • playdough,  
  • paper planes and  
  • chatterboxes  

The highest searches for “How to” were: 

  • How to get vaccination certificate 
  • How to tie a tie – that one surprised me, 
  • How to deliver uber eats  

Australians spend a lot of time watching TV, with so many options available to us, with the best movies:

3. Coda
2. Dune
1. Pig – you can hardly recognise Nicolas Cagein this movie.

And the Streamers Choice

1. The Beatles: Get Back – that you can want on Disney+ channel if you have it.  

The Man of the year in 2021 is Elon Musk, calling him genius, visionary, industrialist a showman.  

The Australian of the Year in 2021 is Grace Tame of Hobart Tasmania, who is an outspoken advocate of sexual assaults. 

The year 2021 will be forever remember as one of the best years for Property performance with an average national increase of 22.2% in 12 months to November, the highest increase since 1989. 

The highest annual value increase: 
St Andrews Beach in Mornington Peninsula of 58.6% with median value of $1,473,279. 

But the property growth hasn’t been limited to major cities. Regional Australia has been in hot demand with many wanting to leave the city due to lockdowns, ability to work from home, with some looking for a more affordable places, and others just wanting the “sea-change” with Gerringong in the Illawarra region NSW taking first spot of annual value increase by 56.4%. 

Sales volumes reached the highest levels in 18 years.  

And of course, our financial and superannuation system in Australia got a major overhaul in 2021 budget. You can watch my full video: Federal Budget 2021-22 for Pre & Post-Retirement explaining in detail those changes, some recommended, and others already approved and implemented. 

So let’s review: 

1. Your Future, Your Super reforms came to effect on 1st November 2021, introducing: 

  • Stapling, meaning your super fund will follow you wherever you go when you change jobs 
  • Annual performance test applied to all MySuper products, that from 1st July 2022 will be extended to certain other types of super products. 
  • Your super comparison tool an online interactive comparison tool that compares all MySuper funds by annual fees and net returns. 
  • Best financial interest duty imposed on super trustees to ensure that they act in the best financial interest of members.  

2. Reduction in minimum pension withdrawals extended for 2020-21, which I explained in full, in my video: Changes to your Retirement income stream 2021″

3. Super Bring-Forwardone of the ways to improve your super balance especially coming closer to your retirement, and now the age limit has been extended from 65 to 67, so more people can utilise this strategy for growing their super savings.  

4. Compulsory SG contributions have been finally increased to 10% that started from 1st July 2021, with further increases planned of up to 12% by 1st July 2025.  

5. Super contributions caps have been increased as well  

  • Concessional contributions from $25,000 up to $27,500 per year 
  • Non-concessional contributions from $100,000 up to $110,000 per year 

Please be aware of age rules, before you make any of those contributions. 

6. Transfer balance cap increased to $1.7mil from $1.6mil. this is the amount of your super savings that can be transferred to a retirement pension or an income stream.  

So lots of changes that impact our retirement planning, therefore it is important to understand which of the changes you should implement into your plan and which ones are not really for your benefit or outside of your eligibility.  

Again, for full details watch that previously mentioned video: “Federal Budget 2021-22 for Pre & Post-Retirement” 

And now, I wanted to show you the difference you made in my life and in the longevity of my YouTube channel. Over the period of the last 12 months, this channel: 

  • Made 52 videos (1 video each week) 
  • Got 62,430 views
  • Total watch time of 7,100 hours  
  • Gained 1,200 subscribers, which is 999% increase to the year before.  

I find those figures incredible and I feel so very grateful for the time you spent with me here on this YouTube About Retirement TV channel.  

With this being my last video for 2021, I would like to wish you a very happy, safe and enjoyable New Year 2022. I honestly have the feeling next year will be a very different year with more stability in our lives. But at the same time, I hope it will be successful and financially rewarding for all of us.  

I am looking forward to our weekly chats right here on About Retirement TV channel, where I will continue providing you with all the updates and changes to rules that can affect your retirement planning, smart strategies that can improve it with my quirky or sometimes a little bit sarcastic comment.  

Happy New Year!

Retirement is a Journey, Not a Destination, so be well prepared for the Ride.  

By: Katherine Isbrandt CFP®
Money Strategist & Retirement Planner
Principal of About Retirement

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