Over the years, I have heard many investment rules, rules of thumb, old wives tales and fund man- ager advertising slogans morphing into investment commandments. I thought I would add some of my own to the mix. A little bit tongue in cheek, but they can certainly be some food for thought.

I recall the great gold boom of the early 1980s. Like all booms, it started slowly but then built itself into the usual juggernaut that no one wants to stop riding. I actually have vivid memories of watching news footage showing people lining up to sell gold in all possible forms, not just gold bullion. Some people were actually willing to remove gold fillings from their teeth; such was the value the metal attained.

Recently, I was looking at some performance comparisons for various superannuation funds. Yes I know, paint drying has greater appeal! But it sure is a good idea for you to keep your eye on these tables as a part of your retirement planning. Not only to see how your fund performs compared to others but it also helps to guard against making contributions to a ‘dog’ of a fund for ten years be- fore you suddenly realise it.

Start turning your ordinary-annuation into superannuation

Superannuation has certainly evolved over the years into what it is today. Having been around for a lot of this evolution I can assure you there have been some shocking incarnations. For example, back in the 70’s and 80’s, only 20% of the workforce was in any form of super – mostly Government employees, who were given a pension for life no doubt as a trade-off for 40 years of boredom!