do you think will fare better?  The person who is aware of how to protect and increase their portfolio?  Or the person who hands it all over to a financial planner intent on charging fees, commissions and more in return for very little market expertise or incentive to turn you a profit?  (Of course, there are a handful of good advisers in Australia and if you are lucky enough to have one of these, then well done!  But the commission structure of most planning firms keep them from doing you any real good.) The most recent data from the AIHW (Authoritative Information and statistics to promote better Health and Wellbeing) shows that Australian Males are the forth longest living males on the planet, living to an average of 79 years of age.  Australian Females have it even better, living to an average of 84 years of age. This means if you retire at age 65, which is the current accepted retirement age, you will still have around 15 to 20 years of life left on this plannet.  15 to 20 years!  When you consider what you can do and achieve in just three to five years, 15 to 20 years is a huge revelation.  You could do five full degrees.  You could raise a child from infancy to adulthood.  You could travel the world more than 20 times.  You could enjoy many years sipping cocktails on the beach, or walking through lush rain forests, or helping people in need. But