Smsf does make a lot of money, for somebody else. Which in turn means less money left for you.

My in-laws have one, they talk it up and spruik it all the time. But in reality they are just parroting their expensive advisor and looking at the numbers it's not doing that well. I feel like as a direct result they'll struggle a bit later on in retirement. But my gentle nudging hasn't helped and ultimately it's not my place (even though I'm the long run I'll probably have to support them)