Written by John Maroney, CEO, SMSF Association First published in The Sydney Morning Herald on 13 April 2021. Licensed by Copyright Agency. The decision to set up a Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF) should not be taken lightly. Although it puts SMSF trustees on a journey towards financial self-funding in retirement, it also comes with a…
As the legislation to allow the number of SMSF members to increase from four to six makes its way through The Parliament, now may be the time for SMSF trustees to consider the benefits and any downside to increasing the number of members in their funds. While the number of members in the majority of…
Written by John Maroney, CEO, SMSF Association First published in Australian Financial Review on 26 March 2021. Licensed by Copyright Agency. Most self-managed super fund members and their advisers were coming to grips with the new rules around transfer balance caps. But then along came indexation. When the Transfer Balance Cap (TBC) was introduced on…
The SMSF Association were honoured to be joined by Senator the Hon Jane Hume, Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services, and the Digital Economy earlier this month at their virtual National Conference, the premier event for SMSF professionals and the SMSF sector. In her Special Address to over 1100 delegates, the Minister provided a glowing endorsement…
Written by John Maroney, CEO, SMSF Association First published in Financial Review on 24 February 2021. Licensed by Copyright Agency. Trustees frustrated by excessive paperwork and expensive advice frameworks will be watching two government initiatives with great interest. There is growing momentum for financial services reform that could see the cost of administering a self-managed…
Written by John Maroney, CEO, SMSF Association First published in Financial Review on 23 February 2021. Licensed by Copyright Agency. In the three months to September 30 last year, the number of self managed superannuation funds increased 5,530 as 5,607 people decided they wanted to take direct control of their super. Last financial year tells…
Written by John Maroney, CEO, SMSF Association First published in The Sydney Morning Herald on 16 February 2021. Licensed by Copyright Agency. To put it mildly, 2020 was a harrowing year for investors. For Self-Managed Super Fund trustees, many sitting on their life’s retirement nest eggs, it was even more so. On February 20, the…
Written by John Maroney, CEO, SMSF Association First published in Australian Financial Review on 28 January 2021. Licensed by Copyright Agency. Rejoicing at the indexation of the transfer balance cap from July 1 because you’ll get more in tax-free pension phase? How it will work is likely to be frustrating. Since July 1, 2016, the…
Written by John Maroney, CEO, SMSF Association First published in Australian Financial Review on 29 December 2021. Licensed by Copyright Agency. On the radar are auditing changes, higher tax-free thresholds, increased contribution caps and an ATO crackdown on investment strategies. On the radar are auditing changes, higher tax-free thresholds, increased contribution caps and an ATO…
I’m sure there will be much discussion on the outcomes of the last 10 months of 2020 through December and into early 2021. If I had any idea of what a story that reflected on 2020 would look like a year ago, there may have been only one discussion point that I would have been…