(03) 9020 2905Bruce Brammall, The West Australian, 4 June, 2018
It’s a bit fresh outside. Which makes it the perfect time for our favourite indoor sports.
Not that indoor sport. Get your minds out of the gutter. I’m talking about “grand final” time for your personal finances.
And as most of your finances are handled via your laptop – with the odd trip for a purchase from Officeworks – there’s plenty you can do, while watching the footy.
There are two things to concentrate on. One is a really big opportunity. The second is what to do when you’ve had a good year in the market.
The really big opportunity is actually superannuation. And it’s an exciting one. Yep, it’s getting me all a bit jingly!
Almost anyone can plonk money into super and get a tax deduction for it. And it will look like you’ve been a good little super saver and salary sacrificed all year.
From 1 July last year, a rule was changed so that employees could contribute to super as easily as the self employed (who have always been able to make their contributions at any time).
It was a stupid archaic rule. But, essentially, it meant that if you were an employee, you could only contribute extra to super via salary sacrifice. If your employer didn’t offer salary sacrifice, tough luck.
However, now, you can decide “I want to do some tax planning and help out my super” and make a contribution.
How does it work?
Simple. You make a contribution to your super fund with cash (usually via EFT). Then you claim a tax deduction. Plus fill out a small bit of paperwork.
What you need to keep in mind is that your contribution, added to your Superannuation Guarantee payments from your employer, must equal $25,000 or less.
So, if you’re earning $100,000 and your employer/s is/are paying 9.5 per cent, or $9500, you can’t contribute more than $15,500.
Say you put in $15,000. You get a tax deduction for that amount and you’ll receive (in this example) 39 per cent of that back as a tax return, or $5850. But that $15,000 will only be taxed at 15 per cent in your super fund, so your super fund will get $12,750 to invest.
Most Australians will now be able to do this each year. Make a late decision, if warranted, to put excess savings into super, without having to commit to a monthly amount during the year.
Have you made a big capital gain this year? Received a big bonus? Well, this rule will allow you to help your super directly and allow you to manage your tax at the same time and potentially reduce the tax you pay on the extra income you’ve received.
If this isn’t clear to you … it’s important to get proper financial advice.
If you are tempted to take some share market gains and have done so, are you going to rebalance, take some profits, or cash out?
That call will depend on your personal circumstances.
If you’ve made gains, should you be selling some dogs in your portfolio that have fleas, to reduce the capital gains from sales of other assets?
If you’ve been watching international markets – particularly the US – and wondering why you’re not invested in them, should you take some time to consider how you’re going to get yourself that exposure (perhaps by exchange-traded funds, if direct trading is your thing)?
And what about the usual end-of-year purchases for tax deductions?
Little is going to beat a contribution to super, as per above, in my opinion. But many industries have tax-deductible expenses that can be claimed.
Bruce Brammall is the author of Mortgages Made Easy and is both a financial advisor and mortgage broker. E: bruce@brucebrammallfinancial.com.au.