If the Australian Labor Party are elected in 2019 they intend to ban the refund of excess franking credits. This means, if your SMSF received a tax refund at the end of the financial year because your franking credits exceeded any tax payable, you will no longer receive that money. SMSFs are significantly affected because…
News
January 31, 2019
What your financial planner should look like by 2024 as new standards kick in
Written by John Maroney, CEO, SMSF Association First published in The Australian Financial Review on 31 January 2019. Licensed by Copyright Agency. In the final moments of 2018 and early into 2019, the new standard setter for financial advisers – the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) – issued new educational and ethical standards…
January 10, 2019
Productivity Commission Inquiry Report into Superannuation
The SMSF Association has welcomed the Productivity Commission’s decision to follow our recommendations to improve SMSF advice standards and reject introducing minimum establishment balances as a way of ensuring the integrity of the SMSF sector. The Productivity Commission’s report into Superannuation was handed to the Australian Government on 21 December 2018 and publicly released yesterday. The report…
January 7, 2019
Podcast: A frank discussion about the ALP dividend proposals
First published by nabtrade and can be found here. Licensed by Copyright Agency. Some investors have sold off parts of their portfolio and changed their asset allocation under the assumption that the Opposition’s policy proposals have been implemented. However, this is not the case and frankly, any announcements could take a while to reach implementation. With ongoing…
January 7, 2019
Court decisions a sharp reminder of SMSF trustee responsibilities
Written by John Maroney, CEO, SMSF Association First published in The Australian Financial Review on 02 January 2019. Licensed by Copyright Agency. The outcome of two court cases involving self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) auditors will have long-term consequences for SMSF advisers and trustees. The cases – Cam & Bear Pty Ltd v McGoldrick and Ryan…
October 16, 2018
Retiree self protection: A volatility-and-downturn ‘bucket’
Written by Robin Bowerman, Head of Market Strategy and Communications at Vanguard/Board Director of the SMSF Association This is a straightforward strategy intended to reduce the possibility of retirees – particularly those with many years of retirement ahead – having to sell investments at depressed prices to maintain their income in the event of an…
September 28, 2018
Franking credits inquiry announced: Have your story heard – The Alliance for a Fairer Retirement System
Video featuring John Maroney, CEO, SMSF Association & Ian Henschke, Chief Advocate, National Seniors First published on the Alliance for a Fairer Retirement System website. The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics has announced an inquiry into the implication of removing refundable franking credits. This inquiry will report on the use of refundable franking…
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…
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 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…