A letter to send your fund if they didn’t get a tick
So many people have written to me and asked 'what do I do?' if my fund doesn't get an Epic Retirement Tick... well, here's my first suggestion.
In this edition
Feature: A letter to send your fund if they didn’t get a tick
From Bec’s Desk: Each week just keeps getting wilder
SMH/TheAge: Only six super funds are ‘retirement ready’. Is yours one of them?
Prime Time: Announcing the ‘Epic Retirement Tick’: which funds made the cut
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A letter to send your fund if they didn’t get a tick
If you’re nearing retirement, it’s natural to wonder: is my fund actually ready to support me when I stop working?
Until now, there’s never been a clear way to tell.
Funds could simply say they were good at retirement — and the only way you’d ever find out otherwise was to live through it. And since it’s not a service any of us need twice in our lifetime, it’s not something we get to learn from experience, either.
That’s why this week’s report and announcement mattered.
👉🏻 Download the Epic Retirement Tick report here
Some funds loved it. Some definitely didn’t. And that’s okay — because this was never meant to be a popularity contest.
For those who missed it, on Thursday we announced widely via the media the results of an assessment of almost all of Australia’s super funds – the Epic Retirement Tick, powered by Chant West, one of Australia’s most respected superannuation research and analytics companies.
It’s a program designed to help everyday Australians understand what their fund can – and quite possibly should – be doing to support members as they move towards and into retirement. It looks at the full picture: services, products, and initiatives that help people feel confident and capable when the paycheques stop.
If you’ve been listening to the government’s complaints about the sector then it would come as no surprise that only six funds received the Tick this year in year 1: Australian Retirement Trust Super Savings, Aware Super, Brighter Super, Hostplus, Telstra Super, and UniSuper.
That’s a small group. But it’s an important one. These funds are showing what good looks like – the direction we want the rest of the industry to head.
And you’ll note the report has a full breakdown of the criteria they are performing on, and no information about the others. We have that information – but the goal isn’t to shame any of the funds today. It’s to shine a light on where members are being well supported, and to hold up the bar, and encourage every fund to start asking: how can we do better for people who are retiring right now?
Because retirement isn’t a niche anymore. It’s the main event for superannuation. Millions of Australians are traversing this phase right now, and up to 250,000 people are coming for it every year from now on. And these people need guidance, structure, and confidence – not complexity and confusion.
The Epic Retirement Tick isn’t just a report – it’s a starting point for everyone in the retirement phase. And what you do next really matters.
If your fund didn’t get the Tick, that doesn’t mean it’s bad (or not yet!), it means there’s plenty of room to do better. And this is where you come in. Super funds respond to their members. When enough people start asking questions, they listen (we hope!).
So, if your fund didn’t get a tick – ask them why. Ask them to tell you about their initiatives for pre-retirees and retirees, and to share their priority. Ask what they’re doing to help you prepare for retirement, and when they plan to step up.
Will it be in time for your retirement? Or will you need to move your money somewhere that’s moving forward faster?
Here’s something you can copy and paste to get the conversation started:
Template message to your fund:
Hi [Fund Name],
I saw the recent Epic Retirement Tick report and noticed that our fund wasn’t listed among those recognised for being retirement ready.
As a member who’s planning for retirement on (xxx timeline), I’d love to understand what you’re doing to improve the support, tools, and advice available for people like me who are moving from saving to living off our super.
Are there plans to introduce new retirement-focused products or services in the coming year? Can you share more insight?
I’m here and keen to be part of this fund, but I also want to see us leading the way in helping members retire confidently.
Thanks,
[Your Name]
Send it. Post it in your member portal. Email it to their support team. The more members ask, the faster the industry moves.
This is how we change things together – Seriously!
Each week brings new learnings
I hope you’re enjoying the ride — I sure am.
This week kicked off with Purpose and Happiness Week in the Epic Retirement Course – my favourite week (though honestly, they’re all my favourites!). It’s the week where we dive deep into the idea of purpose – what it means, how to find it, and how to keep it alive in the second half of life.
We had two live events: one with Sue West, learning and discussing the theory of finding purpose, and then a live coaching finding your purpose forum, where everyone who was willing jumped on camera and let me facilitate them through a real-time workshop. People shared openly, waved their emojis, and backed each other up in the chat. It was our best session yet – the kind of energy that leaves you buzzing. I left genuinely moved by the power of these sessions to build people up and connect them.
Then it was off to Sydney for two live bookstore events and they were an absolute hoot! Two nights in a row: one at Kinokuniya in Sydney and another at Harry Hartog in Narellan. Both were packed – literally no seats left – and full of smiles and brilliant questions. These were my first-ever bookstore events, and now I’m hooked. I want to do more of them. Thank you to all that came. Not all authors are as lucky as me! I don’t take you for granted.
On Thursday, I was still in Sydney – this time on the Today Extra couch, announcing the Epic Retirement Tick to the nation right as the media embargo lifted and stories started landing everywhere. It was what we call in the industry a hard launch — everything hitting at once.
The planning, prep, and teamwork were top-notch, and it was incredible to see months of effort come together in that moment. The media coverage was fantastic, and seeing the funds who earned the Tick celebrating their wins was genuinely thrilling.
The only downside was the disappointment from so many others whose funds didn’t make the list (and the sadness/disappointment from the teams in those funds too). I feel it too – some of the funds I love working with weren’t on the list (yet!) this year. All we can do now is take that energy, and hope funds channel it into working hard on their offerings for retirement. And give you the confidence to ask more questions.
Tonight (Saturday night) I’m sitting in the airport boarding the plane to London. Pinch me. I have the cover of the new book - the UK edition of How to Have an Epic Retirement - ready to reveal this week; and I’m headed over to meet the pensions sector and speak at their conference and I’m doing an author shoot with The Times (how swish!). A quick trip - and I’ll be working all the way. But gosh I’ve got a warm welcome.
A few important upcoming activities to draw your eye to this week:
EVENT IN VICTORIA
I’ll be heading to Clyde in Victoria for a speech about the ‘6 pillars of an Epic Retirement’ for Lifestyle Communities. Date: 22nd October 2025 10am-12pm; Location: Lifestyle Communities Riverfield; 25 Concerto Street, Clyde LEARN MORE
HESTA EPIC RETIREMENT COURSE
And, you may have read last week that we’re launching the most wonderful HESTA Exclusive edition of the How to Have an Epic Retirement Course and the first event is booking up (via HESTA - you need to be a member of theirs to access it). If there’s some HESTA members in our community that want to participate, please drop me an email and I’ll do what I can to get you into the (big) pilot. It starts in just over a week - and goes for six weeks.
UPCOMING EPIC RETIREMENT FLAGSHIP COURSE
There’s one more How to Have an Epic Retirement Flagship course running this year and it’s booking up nicely. It kicks off on the 6th November, and all our participants will get a copy of the NEW edition of How to Have an Epic Retirement that launches on 29th November with their welcome pack. More info on the course here - the 25% off Earlybird deal is still running - for now so book quickly if you want to get it at this price. Learn more
Now - time for take off. Wish me well - I’m nervous and excited - a good sign. Follow my Facebook page for the launch of the UK book cover and presales launch later this week. It’s certainly different!
Many thanks! Bec Wilson
Author, podcast host, columnist, retirement educator, and guest speaker
Extract of of my weekly column in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times, WA Today on Sunday 5th October 2025.
Only six super funds are ‘retirement ready’. Is yours one of them?
I talk to countless people about retirement. Retirees tell me about the pain points they faced as they navigated it in the hope I can make things easier. Pre-retirees share the stress of not knowing whether their fund is really ready and able to help them.
They both tell me stories of waiting days or even weeks with some funds just to open a retirement account, of sitting on hold for far too long to ask simple questions, and of struggling to navigate the advice on offer.
On the other side, I speak regularly to many funds themselves. Some are proud to show off their latest projects, tools and wins. Others quietly admit that retirement hasn’t been their top priority, with other challenges and initiatives taking centre stage.
Meanwhile, the regulator has been banging the table for five years now, telling funds they need to get ready for the enormous wave of retirees to come – and even they seem frustrated that progress has been so slow.
That’s the gap. Only a few months ago, the regulator finally set out a list of what funds should be doing for their members in retirement – but then announced they wouldn’t conduct their first evaluation until 2028.
Read on — this article continues in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald,Brisbane Times and WA Today. It is free to read - you may have to sign up, but there’s no paywall on my articles.
Announcing the ‘Epic Retirement Tick’: which funds made the cut
This is a big moment.
For the first time in Australia, we now have a clear, carefully evaluated benchmark showing which super funds are genuinely ready to support Australians in pre-retirement and retirement — not just while they’re accumulating super.
It’s called the Epic Retirement Tick — powered by Chant West — and it’s designed to help people see what “good” really looks like among super funds as they approach retirement.
In this week’s episode of Prime Time, I sit down with Ian Fryer, General Manager at Chant West. Together, we unpack how the Tick was created, the 18 criteria behind it, and how you can use the Tick to feel confident your fund is prepared to support you in the years before and after full-time work.
And here’s the surprise: in this first report, only six funds qualified. The benchmark we set isn’t especially high — funds needed to meet just 12 of the 18 criteria to earn the Epic Retirement Tick in 2025–26. And as the retirement landscape evolves, those criteria will expand, and the bar will rise.
You can learn more about the tick and download a copy of the full Epic Retirement Tick report free at http://epicretirement.com.au/epictick
Hi Bec, sometimes i wonder if we get an overload of rankings and ratings. So many funds that did not make it with the new Bec Tick, have the highest Chant West Apple ! Rating. That is one that I personally like. I, for instance, favor funds that invest in social housing as a community benefit and ,as pointed out in a previous comment, dont have expensive advertising and sponsor professional football clubs . Cheers,
Great newsletter this week, Bec! I’ll be sending my copy of the letter on to my fund. It’s a great initiative that will benefit all retirees in the future by raising standards and providing resources, tools, and specific products.