Besides your employer contributions, you can also contribute extra to your super However, there are limits to how much you can contribute and these are referred to as Contribution Caps. There are different limits to the caps which depend on the type of contributions made into your super fund, these are explained in-depth below. Concessional…
March 29, 2018
What an SMSF investment strategy means for non-SMSF investors
Written by Robin Bowerman, Head of Market Strategy and Communications at Vanguard/Board Director of the SMSF Association With the long-term outlook for a lower-return, higher risk investment environment, investors have a particularly strong incentive to have carefully diversified portfolios and sound investment strategies. It is critical to handle these more challenging conditions in a disciplined…
March 9, 2018
Millions of multiple super accounts erode savings
Written by Robin Bowerman, Head of Market Strategy and Communications at Vanguard/Board Director of the SMSF Association One of the simplest ways to make your retirement savings more efficient and less costly is to get rid of needless multiple super accounts. The vast majority of super fund members with multiple accounts unnecessarily pay multiple sets…
March 6, 2018
Property and your self managed super fund
Directly held property makes up approximately 19% of all SMSF assets, indicating that it is considered an important and significant part of a diversified portfolio. There are numerous strategies and ways for property to form part of your SMSF’s investments. It is imperative you are aware of the risks and returns and carefully consider whether…
February 28, 2018
SMSF Estate Planning under the new reforms
From 1 July 2017, the introduction of the transfer balance cap (TBC) impacted the amount of capital that an individual could use to support an income stream in retirement phase. The TBC also applies to death benefit income streams and therefore changes the way we must think about estate planning. With the introduction of the…
February 20, 2018
Potential pension minefields
Written by Robin Bowerman, Head of Market Strategy and Communications at Vanguard/Board Director of the SMSF Association It has been a big year for the SMSF industry given the major policy changes the federal government made to super in the 2016 budget. Last week the Self-managed Super Fund Association held its national conference in Sydney…
February 9, 2018
The cryptic-ness of cryptocurrency – Bitcoin and your SMSF
The recent rises, and don’t forget the falls, of Bitcoin have thrusted its name, and cryptocurrencies more generally, into the spotlight. Not only are early adopters and technology minded individuals investing but it has also captured the attention of investors more used to conventional assets. This interest has spread to SMSF investors. What is bitcoin?…
February 1, 2018
What’s ahead for SMSFs?
Written by Robin Bowerman, Head of Market Strategy and Communications at Vanguard/Board Director of the SMSF Association It would be difficult to underestimate the impact that self-managed super has on competition between super funds – with both SMSF and non-SMSF members being the winners. As actuaries Rice Warner comments in its recently-published Superannuation market projections report…
December 19, 2017
Common expenses within your self-managed super fund
The ATO recently updated their Taxation Ruling TR93/17 which covers income tax deductions that are available to superannuation funds. It is important you are aware of the different types of expenses and their deductibility within your self-managed super fund. Generally speaking, a deduction is a loss or outgoing incurred by a super fund in the…
December 11, 2017
Family super fun? Getting the kids involved
Written by Franco Morelli, Policy Advisor, SMSF Association Running a self managed superannuation fund (SMSF) can be hard, but running a family is even harder. So why would anyone want to mix the two? When discussing SMSFs and children the narrative always suggests that it isn’t a very good idea, especially with the issue of…