It’s simple: This is the best kept secret in retirement planning
And, in my feature article "Letter: Should you stay in growth with your super at 59"
In this edition
Feature: Letter: Should you stay in growth with your super at 59?
From Bec’s Desk: Back in my book editing nightmare
SMH/TheAge: It’s simple: This is the best kept secret in retirement planning
Prime Time: What does financial confidence mean for YOU?
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Letter: Should you stay in growth with your super at 59?
Glenn wrote to me this week…
"Should I stay in growth with my super, or move to a more defensive or balanced option? The economic situation feels a bit jittery, but I’m leaning toward staying in growth. I’m almost 59."
It’s a great question - and a really common one at this stage of life. And while I can’t give Glenn personal advice, I can share my views and help you understand the ways you can think about this decision.
The worry is understandable: markets go up and down, and it can feel risky being in growth when retirement is getting closer. The biggest danger is what’s called sequencing risk - that’s when markets fall right as you retire, and you’re forced to sell investments at a loss to fund your living costs. Those early losses can have a big long-term impact on how long your money lasts.
But swinging too far the other way - going too defensive too soon - has its own risk. If your money grows too slowly, you may struggle to keep up with inflation or make your savings last for the 25–30 years of retirement that many people now enjoy. The real trick is to find a middle path: keeping some of your money safe for the near term, while leaving the rest invested for long-term growth. Here are three strategies that people often use to try and mitigate the amount of risk they are exposed to:
1. The bucket strategy
Think of your retirement savings as two or three different “pots of money,” each with its own job:
Bucket 1: Short-term (1–2 years)
This is your safety bucket. It’s kept in cash or very low-risk investments so you know the money will be there when you need it. This covers your regular income needs or any big expenses coming up soon (like trips booked or loans that need paying).Bucket 2: Medium-term (3–5 years) - optional
This is invested in more balanced or moderate-risk options. The idea is that once your short-term bucket runs low, you refill it from this one. Because the money has a few years to sit, it can handle some ups and downs, but you don’t want it too volatile.Bucket 3: Long-term (5+ years)
This is your growth bucket. It stays invested in shares and other growth assets, giving it time to ride out the market’s rollercoaster and (hopefully) grow the most. You won’t touch this money for years, so you don’t need to worry about short-term drops.
This approach can really help to lift your confidence, knowing that even if markets fall (and they will one day), you know your next few years of spending are covered and you don’t need to sell and crystallise your losses - you can ride the market back up with time.
2. The guardrails approach
Instead of dividing your money into buckets, this strategy focuses on how much you spend each year. You set a “safe spending amount” (for example, 4% or 6% of your super balance), and then place guardrails around it and you have an annual meeting with yourself to review your guardrails:
If markets do really well and your balance grows at above the level you’ve budgeted for, you can lift your spending a little in the next year.
If markets drop, you tighten your spending slightly until things recover.
It’s like having a speed limit and warning signs that stop you from spending too fast or running off the road. This lets you keep most of your money invested in growth, without risking running out too quickly.
3. Phasing down risk
You don’t have to make a big switch all at once at any time in your life. Many people gradually shift a portion of their super into more defensive options as they get closer to retirement or as they head into the ageing phase. For example, you might move 10–20% into a balanced or conservative fund every five years, depending on your risk profile.
This smooths the ride and reduces the chance of a bad market hit right before you need the money, while still keeping plenty invested for the long term.
Ultimately, you don’t have to choose between “all growth” or “all defensive.” If you use strategies like buckets, guardrails, or gradual phasing - all simple concepts you can navigte with or without the help of an adviser, you can enjoy the best of both worlds - safety for your short-term needs, and growth for your long-term security. And when you’re living on a passive income - both are important.
Want to share how you manage risk - or any lessons you’ve learnt along the way? Tell us here. And don’t forget - to make it epic!
This week I landed back in book-editing hell with a thud. Both the UK edition of How to Have an Epic Retirement and the brand-new Australia–New Zealand edition are in final manuscript review — a task I’ve grown to loathe. But it has to be done.
Happily, there have been some lovely interruptions. Today I spoke to a packed room at Redcliffe Library in greater Brisbane — my very first public author talk on Prime Time: 27 Lessons for the New Midlife. The welcome was warm, the faces were friendly, and the energy in the room was electric. I promised half an hour and ended up talking for an hour (because everyone was so engaged), and the book signing afterwards was a total buzz.
The Epic Retirement Tick is almost here - We’re counting down! Just over two weeks to go until the launch of the Epic Retirement Tick on 2 October. The data review is complete and, truthfully, not many funds are going to get a Tick this year. Meeting 12 out of 18 criteria seems to be a stretch for much of the industry right now. That’s why we’ll need your help — to nudge and encourage funds to step up and deliver the services and support retiring Australians deserve.
You can read more about the program here and start thinking about how we can all encourage funds to do better.
Prime Time still at the top - I’m thrilled to share that Prime Time: 27 Lessons for the New Midlife is still riding high on the bestseller charts. Have you got your copy yet? It’s walking out of bookstores fast — and you can grab one here if you haven’t already.
We’re already in Week 3 of the How to Have an Epic Retirement Flagship Course, and it just keeps getting better. This week is all about superannuation and financial advice — always a hot topic. David Lane, Queensland State Manager and Senior Adviser with Ord Minnett, is joining us for the Live Q&A.
There will only be one more Epic Retirement Course this year - you can register your interest. It starts on 6th November - we’ll launch the new brochure and bookings in just a few weeks.
And I’m headed to Sydney for a couple of events!
I’m headed to Kinokuniya in the centre of Sydney on the 1st October at 7pm for an author talk and you’re invited. It’s an event all about Prime Time: 27 Lessons for the New Midlife - and we’re going to talk through a few of the biggest lessons. Come along to this free event - places are limited - please RSVP here.
And on the 2nd October I’m coming to Harry Harthog Narellan (greater Sydney) for an evening event and book talk about Prime Time: 27 Lessons for the New Midlife, from 5pm-7pm. More information and RSVP here.
I’ll be in Victoria later in October - more on this soon! That’s enough from me. I’m back to those manuscript reads — wish me luck!
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 14th September, 2025.
It’s simple: This is the best kept secret in retirement planning
I once had a mentor who gave me advice I’ll never forget: “Do it the !#$&ing easy way, Bec.” It was blunt, even lazy-sounding. But it was genius, and I try to hold it close in everything I do.
Because the truth is, most of us make things harder than they need to be. And nowhere is that more obvious than retirement planning.
We’ve been sold a myth: that it’s a lifelong grind. That you need endless advice, perfect investments and constant tinkering. That you have to scrimp for decades, or panic in your 60s trying to catch up.
But not if you learn the easy way – which, in my view, is also the smart way, and the way to enjoy more lifestyle before you retire, too.
The secret is this: spend seven or eight focused years in midlife knowing your goal, and deliberately boosting what you put into super. Then you can stop pushing, and let compounding do the rest for a decade or until you choose to retire.
Yes! Seven or eight years of paying closer attention, tipping in extra, and setting up the flywheel so it prints money for you. That’s it.
Not forever. Not a treadmill you have to run on until you’re grey and exhausted. Just a short, tidy window of actions taken in your late 40s or 50s, when the kids are leaving home, and you can finally find space in the budget – before you start spending more on your lifestyle.
Do that, and you’ve cracked the code. You get the money, sure, but you also get something more valuable: freedom, lifestyle and the power of choice. That’s the easy way – and it works far better than waiting until your late 50s to plan and save for retirement.
Let me prove it.
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.
What does financial confidence mean for YOU?
In this episode of Prime Time, I’m welcoming back Giacomo Tarantolo, Manager of Retirement Solutions at Unisuper, to talk about one of the biggest hurdles I see people face in preparing for retirement: financial confidence.
We go well beyond the numbers and dig into what really makes people feel ready for this stage of life. Even though Australians are retiring with record super balances, only 9% actually feel comfortable about it. Why is that? Giacomo and I unpack the research, the myths, and the practical steps you can take to shift from uncertainty to confidence.
We cover everything from what financial confidence really means, to how retirement is no longer a full stop but a transition with multiple phases. We talk about why social connections and purpose matter just as much as money, why it’s never too early or too late to start taking action, and the small things you can do that make a big difference.
Hi, I read the article. I’m a bit confused. Are the final figures in future dollars or “today’s dollars” when I used a super projection calculator with same figures the totals were completely different. Thanks
Is your ‘bucket system’ applicable in all Super funds? For instance Aust. Retirement Trust?