Is there anything we can do to reduce this risk?

Q.

My wife and I are aged 62, self-funded retirees, and need a much greater income flow to live on - as soon as possible. We had intended to obtain this from our industry fund but understand that the capital amount must first be transferred to an allocated pension fund, a process, we are informed, that can take up to three working days. No exit/entry costs apply. In this volatile market we are anxious that this be done in a way whereby our capital is not eroded during the transfer. Is there anything we can do to reduce this risk? Alternatively, should we run down our existing allocated pension funds for income until the investment market eventually rises and settles?

This is something to discuss with your adviser, but a solution may be to switch your whole portfolio to cash while it is still in super. Then you could roll the entire balance to the allocated pension fund when the time is right, reinvest the balance in a mix of assets within the new fund. Obviously this strategy could work against you if the market has a bounce while you are in cash.