Soaring to success in 2021

Dave Adams • January 18, 2021

The start of a new year is a great time to reassess where you are in life, your career or business – decide what you want to achieve and put some strategies in place to work towards achieving even your most ambitious goals.

The start of this New Year is a little unusual as for many of us, 2020 was a challenging year. The hopes and dreams we had for 2020 may not, in many cases, have come to fruition as planned, whether they were related to your business, your career or personal in nature, were put on the back burner. So let’s look at how to ensure that 2021 is the year to get things back on track and achieve what you are aiming for.

Let’s start with the fundamentals, it’s impossible to get to where you are going, if you don’t know the destination and challenging to make the journey without a road map of how to get there.

Identify your goals

This involves some soul searching. What do you want for yourself personally and professionally? What are your priorities? Do you want to climb the corporate ladder and set your sights on that senior management position, or spend more time with loved ones? Have you got an idea for a new business or are you wanting to take your existing business to the next level?

Make sure you are specific about what you want and don’t be afraid to aim high. Studies show that specific and challenging goals lead to higher performance than “do your best” type of goals. i

An incremental approach

Once you’ve got an idea of what you want, it’s time to devise some strategies to achieve them. It’s important to dream big but sometimes big dreams can seem intimidating. The way to make a big task less intimidating is to break it into smaller tasks and approach it incrementally. What do you need to do to set yourself up for that management role? Do you need to go back to study? Start taking on more responsibilities at work?

Set up your plan with things you need to do which will act like a series of stepping stones leading to your destination.

Allocate time and resources

The next part of your strategy is to think about what you need to have in place to support each incremental step in your plan. Do you need to set aside time on a daily basis, each week or every month? Do you need financial support or a loan? How will you access that support?

You don’t have to go it alone – think about whether you can get some external assistance in the form of a mentor or just someone you can use as a sounding board. If you are running a business there may be government support packages you can access or external consultants you can engage to help you on your way.

Staying the course It takes discipline to stay on target when there are so many distractions along the way. Make sure that your strategy has some review points at particular times or when you have completed the tasks you have set yourself so that you can celebrate your wins and recalibrate the plan if necessary.

If 2020 showed us anything, it was that the best laid plans can and will change and be subject to circumstances beyond our control, so it’s important to have some contingencies in place. Even more importantly, be agile in your approach so that you can adjust and refine the plan as needed.

Having a strategy and a methodology to implement your strategy will give you the best chance of reaching your goals in 2021 and beyond. Add in a dash of determination and self-belief and you’ll be flying high on your way to the success you’ve dreamed of.

(i)  https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1981-27276-001

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Do you know how your super is performing?

By Nikki Ashurst • November 2, 2026
Many Australians don't know how their super fund has performed or what it invests in. Are you one of them? Here's what to check and why it matters. Do you know how your super fund performed over the last two years? Many Australians don’t and are working towards their financial future without fully understanding one of their most important assets and without a clear plan for how their super may support them in retirement. That's not surprising, as many people view super as something that should run quietly in the background while they're busy with careers, families and everything else that life throws at them. But when you’re not sure what’s happening behind your balance, it’s harder to know whether you’re on track, whether your current approach reflects your goals or what opportunities might be available to help you make the most of what you’ve built so far. Your super isn't sitting in an account, it's invested Super is invested by a fund on your behalf across a mix of assets, with those investments working to grow your balance over time. Those include: Shares Ownership in Australian and international publicly listed companies. Their value can rise and fall, sometimes substantially over short periods but shares can provide capital growth over the long term. Property and infrastructure Real assets like office buildings, shopping centres, airports and energy networks. They can produce income and don't always behave in the same way as share markets, helping diversify investment holdings. Fixed interest and bonds Lending to governments and companies in return for interest. They can provide regular income and be steadier than shares, although returns and risk vary depending on the investment. Cash Generally, the most stable and lowest risk investment type. It can provide stability and faster access to money but typically offers lower longer term return potential. The investment option you choose determines the mix of assets held in your super based on your risk appetite. Most super funds offer options from conservative to high growth. If you’re young, a growth option with a higher exposure to growth assets like shares could offer higher returns over time – but it also comes with higher risk. As retirement nears, you might want to consider a more conservative approach with more defensive assets, like bonds for example to protect your savings. If you've never made a choice, you're probably in your fund's default option, which is designed to suit a broad membership. It’s worth knowing whether the mix you're in matches your circumstances and goals, including how far you are from retirement. Why performance alone is not a true comparison If you're thinking about how your super compares, returns are often where people start. The trouble is that a return figure means nothing without context: What it's being compared to Growth and conservative options invest differently and with different levels of risk. Compare like with like or the comparison may not be genuine. The comparison period A single year can be heavily influenced by short term market conditions. Super is measured in decades, so five, seven and ten year returns tell you far more about whether a fund is consistently doing its job, albeit not a predictor of future performance. Fees and tax Published returns should reflect investment fees, costs and tax but administration fees may be charged separately from your balance. Two funds quoting the same return can leave you in meaningfully different places once all fees are accounted for. Then there are the things that returns can't show you at all. For example, what insurance is attached to your account and what it's costing you, whether the fund offers guidance, tools and advice or simply sends a statement once a year. Another consideration maybe the level of support available when you need it. When comparing funds, it's worth looking at the full picture, including performance, fees, investment options, retirement support and member benefits. What today’s decisions mean tomorrow To understand how your super stacks up, start here: Find your investment option It's on your annual statement and in your online account. Look at what's in it Your fund publishes the asset allocation (shares, cash etc.) for each investment option. Check the long-term return for that option Focus on five and ten year returns, not just last year and compare them with equivalent options. Understand the total cost Add together administration fees, investment fees and insurance premiums as an annual dollar figure. Comparing super is about working out which option will perform best for you. Before you jump in, it’s worth understanding what's behind the numbers so you can make decisions based on more than a headline return. Knowing where you stand is the first step A super balance tells you where you are today. Understanding how your super is invested, how it compares and whether it's aligned with your goals helps show whether you're heading in the right direction. Source: MLC The information in this article does not take into account your objectives, needs and circumstances. We recommend that you obtain investment and taxation advice specific to your investment objectives, financial situation and particular needs before making any investment decision or acting on any of the information contained in this document. Subject to law, Capstone Financial Planning nor their directors, employees or authorised representatives gives any representation or warranty as to the reliability, accuracy or completeness of the information; or accepts any responsibility for any person acting, or refraining from acting, on the basis of the information contained in this document. Principal Wealth Management Pty Ltd trading as BMO Financial Solutions ABN 53 109 336 601 is a Corporate Authorised Representative (CAR 277821) of Capstone Financial Planning Pty Ltd ABN 24 093 733 969 Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) No. 223135.

The SMSF landscape is changing

By Jude Schofield • October 7, 2026
More Australians are choosing to take direct control of their retirement savings by establishing a self-managed super fund (SMSF) and according to the SMSF Association, Aussies now see their super as an important part of building and managing their overall wealth.