Pre-retirees can benefit from a guaranteed, sustainable way to maintain income in retirement, potentially higher income payments than they could achieve elsewhere, and a reduction of some market risk from their overall portfolio during the final years of their pre-retirement, when they can't afford to endure
the consequences of a market downturn.
While CoreLogic figures typically show a
downturn in May, the weaker performance was a
consequence of tighter credit rules after banking regulator APRA in March strengthened its policies on lending to investors and worsening housing
market sentiment as seen in this month's Westpac Melbourne Institute report, Mr Lawless said.