Written by Naomi Kewley SSA™ SSAud™, Managing Director, Peak Super Audits Tips on how to prepare your self managed super fund for audit this financial year Audit preparation 101: Tips for SMSF audit preparation this year; Key changes for pensions & contributions; Special investments – what will the auditor need? “Quality is never an accident.…
September 12, 2018
Three-year SMSF audits are no ‘fix-all’ solution
Written by John Maroney, CEO, SMSF Association First published in The Australian Financial Review on 12 September 2018. Licensed by Copyright Agency. In the 2018 federal budget, the government announced a proposal to allow self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) with good record-keeping and compliance records to have an audit once every three years rather than every…
September 11, 2018
Podcast: SMSF strategies, benefits and traps you need to know
Self-managed superannuation funds make up 30% of the $2.3 trillion total superannuation pool and there are more than 1.1 million SMSF members, according to the Australian Taxation Office. From gearing to renting out vintage wedding cars, SMSFs offer investors the ability to deploy a wide variety of investment strategies and the structure provides various tax…
August 23, 2018
Digital currency: passing trend or something to consider?
You may have heard the term ‘cryptocurrency’ throughout the media in the past few months, but do you really know what this digital currency is? The term cryptocurrency is generally used to describe a digital asset in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of additional units and verify transactions on a block-chain.…
August 22, 2018
Guard your super
Written by Robin Bowerman, Head of Corporate Affairs at Vanguard/Vice Chair of the SMSF Association Critical challenges for super fund members in the accumulation phase are to keep their savings intact and to keep adding to those savings when possible with voluntary contributions. Australia’s $2.6 trillion-plus super savings can present a powerful temptation to obtain some of…
August 15, 2018
Have you considered what you will do if an unexpected event occurs?
Your SMSF is a long-term plan. Much can happen during this time including illness, incapacity or death of a member. It is best practice to have contingency plans in place to deal with unexpected events. For example, if a fund member dies, leaving you as the sole member are you happy to continue with the…
August 1, 2018
Examining the S in SMSF
Written by Robin Bowerman, Head of Corporate Affairs at Vanguard Australia/Board Director of the SMSF Association First published in Cuffelinks on 26 July 2018. One of the great misnomers in the Australian investment scene is that self-managed super funds are actually self-managed. The simple reality is that there is an entire advice industry built around…
July 31, 2018
The future of SMSF reporting is here
Written by Jordan George, Head of Policy, SMSF Association This article originally appeared in the July 2018 ASX Investor Update email newsletter and is published on the ASX website. The new financial year brings new reporting requirements for SMSFs and a new set of acronyms. From 1 July 2017 superannuation fund members are subject to…
July 26, 2018
Starting a pension from your SMSF?
Superannuation – and your SMSF – is your nestegg for retirement. When you are nearing retirement and looking to reap the rewards of your hard-earned savings it’s your super that you’ll call upon to fund your lifestyle. But to do this, your super has to do two things: Your capital needs to GROW (your advisor…
July 19, 2018
Fear factor investing
Written by Robin Bowerman, Head of Corporate Affairs at Vanguard Australia/Board Director of the SMSF Association Fear is a factor in many of our investment decisions. Now, that’s not always a bad thing because fear can be an effective motivator that overcomes another great emotional roadblock for investors – procrastination. Fear can come in many…