Meet Laura + Ricardo

Ricardo is 64 years old and Laura is 63. They have funds in a self-managed super fund invested in property, shares and term deposits.

As they approach retirement, they’re looking forward to spending more time with their family as well as taking some well-deserved holidays.

The strategy

Protect their super with sharemarket protection

As they are approaching retirement, Laura and Ricardo’s financial adviser recommends they invest a portion of their sharemarket portfolio into Allianz Retire+ Future Safe. Because they have other assets they can access in case of emergency, so they are happy to invest for 7 years.

Future Safe provides Laura and Ricardo with the ability to maintain exposure to the sharemarket with the peace of mind of knowing their range of returns upfront.

6 key steps

Laura + Ricardo work with their adviser through 6 key steps to:

Step 1 & 2: Understand their retirement goals and choose an Investment Interval
Together with their adviser, they identify their retirement goal, which is to make sure their super doesn’t suffer large losses in any year. They want the ability to access sharemarket returns with a lower level of volatility. They have other assets they can access in case of emergency, and so they decide to select a 7 year Investment Interval.

Step 3: Choose their protection option
Laura and Ricardo choose the -5% Floor option as they can tolerate some market losses. They know the annual product fee is charged on top, and that tax may also apply.

Step 4: Choose investments
Ricardo and Laura consider the investment options and choose to invest in the S&P/ASX200 Total Return Index (as they want the index that is calculated assuming dividends reinvested) and the MSCI World Net Index in Australian Dollars.

Step 5: Choose their withdrawal amount and frequency
At the end of each year, their investment return will be credited or debited to their policy. They can choose to withdraw this or leave it in their policy.

Step 6: Check in each year to review their strategy
They review their protection and investment choices every year with their adviser to ensure these continue to meet their needs and fit with their investment objectives.