On joining a retirement fund, you may be presented with a choice of investments – about 64% of funds offer investment choice. Some funds offer a limited choice of investments – for example, a choice of two or four funds – while others, particularly retirement annuities (RAs), offer you an array of funds through an investment platform or linked investment services provider. Those that do not offer a choice have pre-selected an investment strategy for you, relieving you of the responsibility of making the choice or getting advice in order to make a choice.  Before you choose the underlying funds or portfolios, you should know your retirement savings goals and the return you need to target to reach those goals. A lower equity exposure of between 40% and 60% a year would have generated returns of inflation plus 4%–5% a year before fees. Less than that would have generated after-inflation returns of up to 3% only a year. Although these differences may appear insignificant, earning just 1...

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