Actuarial Insights: a good idea, prematurely halted, cleanly closed
Not every early-stage venture gets to finish its test. What matters is stopping cleanly when it cannot go on.
The idea
Financial planning adds real value for people with significant assets beyond their home and superannuation. For well over 90% of Australians it struggles to — the cost of getting to know each client is too high. Yet those people still make long-term decisions about saving, retiring and drawing down their super.
Eric Ranson, a Fellow of the Actuaries Institute, saw a gap. Actuarial, tax and budgeting insight could be automated and delivered without the cost of a personal review — and without first requiring a course in financial literacy. Actuarial Insights would replace the language of financial markets with common sense.
What it built
- A super income calculator in today’s dollars. Most retirement calculators show future dollars, which are hard to picture. Actuarial Insights’ model answers a plainer question: what will my super pay me each year, in money I understand today?
- A personalised version for people who wanted to enter their actual balance and test the effect of time out of work, changed hours or extra contributions.
- Brief actuarial consults for questions about investment, longevity and tax, with a clear line drawn between actuarial insight and licensed financial planning advice.
You can try a version of the core model below.
What happened
The company was listed on Attivare in April 2024 and, in a funding round that closed in June 2024, raised $2m to develop and trial the platform. The trials had not yet proved the idea, and the change in the ATO’s interpretation of the ESIC rules removed any path to further funding.
The directors did not let the company drift. It closed cleanly, with the consent of all shareholders.
Why this is a good result
The Y Combinator principle is “fail fast”. Most early-stage companies fail; the expensive failures are the ones that take years to admit it. Actuarial Insights tested its idea within about a year, recognised the regulatory issues, and closed — without spending further money on a venture that could not proceed.
The ESIC incentive exists to make that kind of experiment affordable. A system that funds only certainties funds nothing new.
“Attivare gave real support to founders and the ESIC plan of growing Australian innovation funding.”
What will my super pay me, in today’s dollars?
A working version of the company’s core model, rebuilt from its specification. It is a historical demonstration, not a current service.
- Years until retirement
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- Estimated balance at retirement
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- Years of retirement funded
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* Illustrative estimate only, in today’s dollars. The model assumes you have worked full time since age 18 on a salary path that grows 1% a year above inflation and reaches your current salary at your current age; Superannuation Guarantee contributions of 12% of salary; 15% contributions tax and 8% tax on earnings before retirement; a real return of 3% a year before retirement and 2% a year after; and level payments that use up the balance by your last payment age. It ignores the Age Pension, fees, insurance and other savings. It is not financial product advice — speak to a licensed adviser before making decisions about your super.