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Category: Eureka Report

Take two for a DIY ruling

PORTFOLIO POINT: Here’s another major benefit of SMSFs – managing contributions over two years. The power of super as a retirement vehicle has plenty of boundaries. There are plenty of brakes stopping you getting money in, for a start. But there are a few boundaries that are allowed to be pushed a little further to […]

FOFA: What happened?

PORTFOLIO POINT: A last-minute backroom deal on FoFA’s “iconic” opt-in arrangements will dilute benefits to super members and investors. What does it mean for you? When two usual bedfellows break out in a spiteful stoush in an industry as big as financial services, you know something a bit fishy has gone on. At first glance, […]

Guarding super’s panic button

PORTFOLIO POINT: Super investment risk is ultimately in your control. Do you have a finger on the panic button? Using extreme examples to try to prove a point rarely does anyone any favours. And when it comes to super, one that former Treasury Secretary Dr Ken Henry used last week is a good case of […]

Risk off: The new DIY trend

PORTFOLIO POINT: The primary investment driver of SMSF trustees has changed. Has it taken hold of you? Some shifts in direction are subtle, like a cruise liner slowly changing its course. Some are not. Like a politician back-pedalling on a broken election promise. There was something you, as SMSF trustees, underwent last year that would […]

The lowdown on SAFs

PORTFOLIO POINT: They’re not a big part of the DIY spectrum, but SAFs have some important advantages over SMSFs … and could save your super skin. Those who are deeply immersed in their world of self-managed super funds are almost inevitably happy with their choice. They have, as far as super goes, almost the ultimate […]

Enemy of the SMSF people

PORTFOLIO POINT: Lies, damned lies and statistics. Selective quoting of stats won’t make ACOSS a friend of SMSF trustees. Today I’m going to declare an “enemy” of self-managed super funds. This doesn’t happen often. Sometimes, some people, or some organisations, start proposing changes that would so fundamentally impact on your interests, that I feel compelled. […]

How to start your DIY pension

PORTFOLIO POINT: It’s not quite as simple as “insert pension, press play”. So how do you “flick on” a pension in your SMSF? Pensions are, literally, what super is all about. The provision of retirement benefits is numero uno on the definition of superannuation’s sole purpose test. It’s the end game. But it’s an end […]

Clock ticking on DIY property

PORTFOLIO POINT: A super opportunity could be closing. If you were thinking it’s for you, you’ll need to get started very, very soon. Like sands through the hourglass … a two-year egg timer started flowing in the last few months of calendar 2010. The last grains are due to fall through later this year. It […]

Super and the value of segregation

PORTFOLIO POINT: These assets stay here. Those assets go there. Segregation within SMSF can lead to better tax outcomes. The word “segregation” has some nasty connotations, most usually associated with policies of entrenched racism. South Africa under apartheid and the deep south of the United States pre- and post-Civil War are infamous examples. Less nasty, […]

Super’s magic years

PORTFOLIO POINT: Have your cake and eat it too – combining salary sacrifice with a transition to retirement strategy. “Hey Dad, there’s some bloke here at Eureka Report who reckons there’s a super strategy that allows you to both have more money in your hand each month AND still get more money in your super […]