The beginning of a new financial year is a peak time of the year for beginning a superannuation pension by members of large funds and self-managed funds.

We are reaching a time of the year when some SMSF trustees will learn that their funds have inadvertently breached one of the most fundamental set of provisions in superannuation law: the in-house asset rules.

It seems inevitable that more SMSF trustees reaching older ages may consider whether or not to ask their adult children to join their fund to help with its administration and investments.

Most advisers would agree that couples in a marital relationship who carefully co-ordinate their investment portfolios along with their other personal finances can potentially put themselves in an excellent position to reach their shared long-term goals.

It seems paradoxical. The self-employed are among the most enthusiastic supporters of self-managed super yet the majority of the self-employed have little or no super.

Voluntary super contributions are poised to become like New Year’s resolutions and lapsed gym memberships – well-meaning, but ultimately unrealised.

When Warren Buffett offers to share his most important investment lesson it is not surprising that investors around the globe take notice.

Justifiable confidence in our own abilities helps us deal with many things in life – including some of the inevitable setbacks. It can be our friend.

Many investors might be worried about a low return environment – but something far worse than a sluggish economy may threaten your personal wealth.

Balance is something most of us aspire to in many parts of our life – be it work/family time, diet or exercise.

Despite the challenging investment environment, the size of the average transaction and total funds under management of Australian-listed Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have risen sharply.

One of key characteristics of self-managed super is the way that the sector’s membership is being continually replenished with younger members.

The 2016 Federal Budget alerted every member of a superannuation fund – large and small – to the fact that risk is not the sole domain of investment markets.

Plenty of "noise" was created in investment markets on Budget day that had nothing to do with the anything in the Budget.

One of the ways that more Australians are boosting their retirement savings is by working beyond popular retirement ages – often on a part-time basis.

While the median retirement age in Australia is around 61, many older Australians are showing a determination to keep working long past traditional and popular retirement ages.

The degree of sharemarket volatility during the first three months of the year will regrettably have thrown some investors off their long-term course.

Sometimes reality differs from what we intuitively suspect – quite often in regard to investments and savings. Take the superannuation of elderly retired females as an example.

Pre-budget speculation and kite flying is sometimes a distracting noise for investors. And the lead-up to this year’s federal budget in early May is, of course, no different.

Financial advisers understand the value of setting long-term objectives.

Ever think to yourself that every second vehicle on the road these days seems to be a four-wheel-drive? Australia’s demand for sports utility vehicles (SUVs) is clearly growing – and the statistics prove it.

It is well-known that self-managed super is most popular among couples. In fact, 70 per cent of SMSFs as at June 2014 had two members – with the vast majority being in a marital relationship.

It may seem hard to believe now that some of Australia’s biggest super funds didn’t offer their own pension products until a decade or so ago. This would have been a reflection of the then much younger age demographics of their memberships.

One of the strategies that some property spruikers have adopted increasingly in recent years is to suggest that their properties are highly suited to self-managed super funds (SMSFs).

Significant birthdays can be powerful catalysts for both celebration and reflection. Although, it is perhaps fair to assume that the ratio of reflection to celebration is strongly correlated to how high – or low – the particular birthday is.

When market volatility is not dominating the headlines, investors can take their pick from any number of stories about disruptive technologies to help feed their sense of anxiety about investing in an uncertain world.

An investment borrowing practice that contributed to investors losing their homes and share portfolios during the global financial crisis (GFC) is still readily accessible today.

The online streaming of music, movies and television programs is certainly disrupting traditional record companies and broadcasting networks, to name just two sectors. And subscribing to a possible excess of online streaming services may be disrupting or at least disturbing your efforts at personal debt control.

The fact that self-managed super funds (SMSFs) can invest in so-called collectables – such as exotic cars, fine paintings and handcrafted pottery – inevitably leads to investment "colour" stories in the media from time to time.

Individual investors can learn some valuable lessons from how heavyweight institutional investors construct and manage their multi-billion-dollar portfolios.

There are probably few better ways to quickly put the recent sharemarket market volatility into perspective than to look at the medium to long-term returns of the large super funds with balanced portfolios.

Independent consulting firm Rice Warner has included in its pre-Budget submission for 2016-17 a recommendation that won’t grab any headlines. Yet if accepted, the initiative is likely to markedly improve member interest in super and their willingness to save more – without adding a dollar to Budget outlays.

The number of self-managed super funds (SMSF) being established each financial year inevitably gets plenty of attention whenever the latest figures are released or updated.

Home videos of animals or babies often seem to go viral on the internet. But have you heard about a list of personal finance tips going viral on the net?

Ideally, we would enter retirement with our home mortgages paid off and completely free of any other kind of debt. That would give us the capability to use our retirement savings to finance (or help) finance our standard of living in retirement.

In this wired world of ours it is increasingly difficult to follow the lead of many ageing rock stars and opt to go unplugged.

An SMSF’s compulsory investment strategy could be accurately described as its anchor and its navigator. And the current bout of sharemarket volatility highlights the need for an SMSF to have plenty of ballast.

The holiday break may have provided an ideal environment away from the usual day-today distractions to think about practical ways to improve your personal finances over the next 12 months and beyond.

A key part of that budgeting is to determine how much to regularly drawdown from your retirement savings. It can be somewhat of a long-term balancing exercise.

Like most sound investment strategies, the rationale for having a low-cost, appropriately-diversified portfolio is straightforward.