For many Australians, getting retirement advice feels complex, expensive or difficult to access.
Traditional advice models sometimes rely on face to face meetings, lengthy statements of advice and ongoing manual reviews. While this approach works for some, it can leave many retirees without timely guidance during the most important years of their retirement journey.
Stockspot was designed to make retirement guidance more accessible by embedding licensed digital advice directly into the way portfolios are built, managed and adjusted over time.
Accessing advice that evolves with your retirement stage
Retirement is not a single moment. It is a transition that unfolds over many years, often beginning well before full retirement and continuing long after income withdrawals begin.
Research, including Dr. Moshe Milevsky’s substantial 2006 paper with P. Salisbury, shows that the ten years before and after retirement are among the most critical for managing risk and protecting long term income. This period is often referred to as the ‘retirement risk zone’.
Stockspot’s digital advice framework is designed to recognise this stage and adjust portfolios accordingly, rather than applying the same investment approach throughout retirement.
How do you address the retirement danger zone?
As retirement approaches, the way investment risk affects outcomes changes.
Large market falls just before or shortly after retirement can have a lasting impact on income sustainability. This risk is often referred to as sequencing risk.
Rather than relying on ad hoc decisions, Stockspot applies a structured approach that gradually reduces exposure to growth assets as retirement nears. This helps align portfolios with the increased sensitivity to early losses when income withdrawals begin.
How Stockspot protects against sequencing risk through portfolio design
Sequencing risk occurs when negative investment returns happen early in retirement, while income is being withdrawn.
To help manage this, Stockspot portfolios increase their allocation to defensive assets as clients move into retirement. This approach is informed by long term research into retirement outcomes and portfolio sustainability.
Defensive assets such as bonds and other diversifying investments are used to help stabilise returns during periods of market volatility. This reduces the likelihood of selling growth assets during downturns to fund income payments.
The role of a structured 40/60 portfolio approach in retirement
During the early years of retirement, portfolios are typically positioned with a stronger defensive allocation.
A structure that balances growth and defensive assets helps support two important objectives at the same time:
- Providing stability when income withdrawals begin
- Maintaining enough growth to help protect against inflation
This balance is not designed to eliminate risk, but to manage it in a way that reflects the realities of retirement income.
Flexibility to adjust later in retirement
Retirement needs do not remain static.
As retirees move further away from the early drawdown years, their ability to tolerate investment volatility may change. For some, priorities may shift toward long term growth, legacy planning or funding aged care later in life.
Once the most sensitive phase of retirement has passed, portfolios can be adjusted to reflect changing objectives. This flexibility allows retirees to respond to their circumstances without rebuilding their approach from scratch.
How Stockspot provide evidence based transparent guidance
Stockspot’s approach to retirement advice is grounded in evidence and implemented through transparent portfolio construction.
Rather than providing one off recommendations, guidance is embedded into the ongoing management of the portfolio. This includes asset allocation, diversification and rebalancing, all applied consistently over time.
Because portfolios are held as individual ETF holdings, members can see exactly how their investments are structured and how changes are made.
Stockspot: licensed digital advice with human support
Accessibility is not only about technology. It is also about support.
Stockspot combines licensed digital advice with access to Australian based advisers who can help explain how our retirement products work and how income settings operate.
This blended model allows retirees to benefit from consistent, rules based portfolio management while still having access to support when questions arise.
How Stockspot helps reduce complexity in retirement decision making
One of the biggest barriers to advice is complexity.
By automating portfolio adjustments and income management within clear rules, Stockspot reduces the need for retirees to make frequent or reactive decisions.
This can help retirees stay focused on long term goals rather than short term market movements or administrative tasks.
How Stockspot help build confidence through clarity and structure
Confidence in retirement often comes from understanding what is happening and why.
Clear dashboards, visible holdings and structured portfolio changes help retirees remain informed and engaged without being overwhelmed.
Accessible advice is not about telling people what to do. It is about providing a framework that supports informed decisions throughout retirement.
How Stockspot makes retirement guidance more accessible
Retirement advice has traditionally been difficult to access for many Australians.
By embedding licensed guidance into portfolio design, automating risk adjustments and providing clear visibility, Stockspot aims to make retirement advice more widely available and easier to engage with.
This approach recognises that good retirement outcomes are supported by structure, consistency and clarity over time.
