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Category: Newsletters

Renewed threat to SMSF property gearing

SUMMARY: Is the end nigh for SMSF property gearing strategies? If you’ve been considering making a geared property investment inside a SMSF for a while, I don’t know that I would be dithering for much longer. It’s beginning to feel like the vice handle is being turned and squeezing SMSFs. The end could be in […]

Watch out: You’re now a sophisticated SMSF

SUMMARY: ASIC lowers the bar. Now more than half of all SMSF trustees will be considered sophisticated. Self-managed super fund trustees are used to fending for themselves and, reasonably successfully, fighting off the sharks. But following a stunning week in news that affects you, it’s clear that you’re going to have become even better at […]

Super wealthy in the firing line

SUMMARY: Proposals to limit mega-SMSFs are becoming more frequent and getting smarter. There was a belief before the last election that an incoming Coalition government would be a reversal of fortune for superannuation – the tide might start to come in again. This was particularly hoped for in regards to concessional contributions limits, which had […]

Saving SMSFs from the spruikers

SUMMARY: Super and property – more ideas surface to stop the shonks, while Senator Xenophon needs to pull his head in. In any arena, most people play by the rules and will always be safe. Others have no interest in the rules. They’re just crooks and will be caught. There’s always a grey area. Two […]

Deferred annuities: A timely review

SUMMARY: Finally, we’re going to get serious about super retirement income-stream products. It’s been a concern of the industry for a long time. When it comes to turning on an income stream from your super, the options have been way too limited. This is part innovation. But it is also partly to do with the […]

Did you beat the super benchmark?

SUMMARY: Did you have a good year as investment manager for your SMSF? The answer is “no” if your portfolio didn’t return 13.8%. It’s not just double digits for the second year in succession, it’s the second year in the teens. If you’re chasing returns – which we all are to a degree, each with […]

Forget the RBA, I’m calling it for the buyers

When an undisputed champion offers to adjudicate on a cage fight, respect says you stand back, listen to the verdict, and graciously accept victory or defeat. If Elvis rolled up to judge your local “battle of the bands”, would you dare question his decision? So, last week was, like, a TOTAL let-down. The Reserve Bank […]

How to avoid a super death tax

SUMMARY: Protecting your family from super’s death tax can take a little planning. Superannuation, on the surface, is about saving for your retirement. In fact, that aim is actually enshrined as the “sole purpose” of superannuation. You save via super for decades. At some point close to retirement – before, at or some time after […]

Planning for a mega super attack

SUMMARY: A new report reopens the debate about super tax concessions for the wealthy, but recommends global contributions limits. Some form of limit on what’s considered a “reasonable” amount to have in super is likely to be reintroduced by a future government. Reasonable Benefit Limits (RBLs) were ditched, to wild applause, when Peter Costello with […]

The pros and cons of SMSFs

SUMMARY: Should I start my own SMSF? Why should I, and why should I not? Their numbers topped 500,000 a while ago. And their members have recently passed through the one million mark. Self-managed super funds seem to be the most popular thing since Bob Hawke declared a defacto public holiday for Australia II winning […]