My Retirement Fund

How it has grown and the costs associated with it

2 min read

When was the last time you reviewed your retirement fund?

Admittedly retirement is something that's many years away so it doesn't feel like money that I actually have. But recently when I changed jobs, I was curious to see how much extra money has been put into my retirement fund, and how it has grown over the years.

When I looked at the numbers, it was interesting to see the return on my investments, but I was also shocked at how much money was going out of my account, specifically towards fees.

In today's blog, I'll go through the numbers of my retirement fund for each year, and the costs associated with it.

Opening Balance: $9,861.69
Contribution: $11,469.40
Investment Return: -$72.05
Tax: -$1,720.42
Fees: -$117

The numbers

2020

$19,421.62

2021

2022

2023

Opening Balance: $19,421
Contribution: $9,104.47
Investment Return: $4,969.94
Tax: -$1,365.64
Fees: -$117

$32,012.77

$39,047.42

$52,979.55

Opening Balance: $32,012
Contribution: $10,495.66
Investment Return: -$1,709.80
Tax: -$1,574.44
Fees: -$117

Opening Balance: $39,107.81
Contribution: $11,493.69
Investment Return: $4,320
Tax: -$1,701.81
Fees: -$91.55
Premiums: -$148.59

Opening Balance
How much money was originally in my retirement fund at the beginning of the year

What the numbers mean

Contribution
How much money was added into my retirement fund in that year

Investment Return
How much money did I make from the money invested in my retirement fund

Tax
Money being deducted from my account to go towards government taxes

Fees
The amount of money paid to the retirement fund to manage my account and investments

Premiums
The amount of money paid to the life insurance company for my Death, TPD and IP cover

Investment returns aren't guaranteed
Not every year is going to provide positive return on investments, and that's the nature and risks of investments in general. Overall, I've made more money than I've lost, and given my age and risk tolerance, I am comfortable with investing my retirement funds in riskier assets.

What I learned from the numbers

The power of set and forget
My retirement fund is automatically funded by a percentage of my pay. Through the power of dollar cost averaging and being consistent over time, I am able to get a positive return with minimal effort.

Fees are consistent
One of the reasons why I initially joined my current retirement fund was because they had low fees. Admittedly I haven't kept track of the fees coming out of my account, but I'm pleasantly surprised that it has remained consistent and low throughout the years!