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Tag: Transition to Retirement

Transition to more super

PORTFOLIO POINT: Ramping up your non-concessional contributions before starting the pension can aid transition-to-retirement plans. There’s little doubt that transition to retirement strategies have been, well, neutered, to a large extent, in recent years. If you were aged 55-59 and all of your super was taxable component (that is, predominantly concessional contributions), then the major […]

Picking a pension winner

PORTFOLIO POINT: Maximising income streams in retirement can involve financial magic, particularly where Centrelink is concerned Super pension income is tax-effective income. We all know that. It’s just a case of whether it’s tax-free, or tax-advantaged. If you’re over age 60, the income comes to you tax-free. If you’re under age 60, then a super […]

Post budget super strategies

PORTFOLIO POINT: Post-Budget super strategies to combat the latest attack on your retirement nest-egg. I was seething. As should you have been. Sure, I was sitting on a holiday in Bali, having to read the Federal Budget by mobile phone via a sometimes dodgy WiFi connection, but it didn’t temper the anger. A friend sitting […]

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 […]

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 […]

Two pensions better

PORTFOLIO POINT: Why take two pensions instead of one? Because the estate planning ramifications are potentially worth tens of thousands of dollars. Here’s why. It can often make sense to start a pension well before you’re ready to retire. The introduction of transition to retirement (TTR) pensions in 2005 meant many as young as 55 […]

Give back your super pension

PORTFOLIO POINT: Looking to adjust your pension mid-year because of market volatility? Here’s a strategy to keep in mind. Super pensions can be a relatively simple affair. Take the value at June 30 of the previous year and decide what percentage – within your limits – you want to take for the year. If you’re […]

Super’s safe house

PORTFOLIO POINT: Should you sell your properties to get money into your SMSF? There’s plenty to weigh up. Here are the main points (Part I) A recent survey suggested that 2011 is going to be the year of property in SMSFs. The suggestion was that – with the GFC slowly fading into history – that […]