2012 checklist: 10 super tips for a financially healthy retirement
Use this list as a kick-start for your 2012 super resolutions. You may not keep all of your resolutions, but if you do just a handful of the tasks listed in the checklist below, you can strengthen the chances of a financially secure retirement.
Non-concessional contributions: Re-contribution strategy still applies
Q: My wife will turn 60 later this year and it has always been my intention to cash out her portion of our small self managed super fund (SMSF)…
SMSF pensions: You stick with the original components
Q: I recently read your book on DIY Super for Dummies and picked up a number of useful hints. Thanks for writing it. My wife and I have only recently established a SMSF and are on a steep learning curve. [...]
SMSF: If I die young, will my wife pay super tax on the life insurance payout?
Q: I have a life insurance policy owned by my self-managed super fund (SMSF) of approx $2 million. Currently there is only about $80,000 accumulated in the fund. I am 40 years old. If I die tomorrow is my wife able access an income stream from the fund tax-free?
SMSFs: Can I transfer my life insurance to my DIY super fund?
Q: I have searched the web and the ATO site to determine if we can have our SMSF pay life insurance for members. I am unable to find whether these things are arm’s length in regard to existing policies or not.
Life insurance: Hey, does super have a deal for you!
One of the best deals in superannuation has only a slight connection to your life in retirement. If you’re a member of a large super fund (such as an industry fund or retail fund or public sector fund), and you [...]
Estate planning: Dear Dad, Tax for everything
If you plan to leave your super to your adult children when you die, your death benefit may be hit with tax, even though you would have received that benefit tax-free (if aged 60 or over) while you were alive.
How can a SMSF live forever?
Q: It has been suggested, that a family self-managed super fund (SMSF) can become a multi-generational tax haven, which can go on into perpetuity, provided that you establish a special corporate trustee, as well as a SMSF Will.
Estate planning: Beware the dastardly death tax
Although superannuation death benefits are tax-free when paid to dependants, a “death tax” continues to apply when super monies are paid to non-dependants.
SMSF pensions: Watch out for a shock (ing) tax bill on fund assets
During 2010, SuperGuide published a response to a question from a reader. The reader asked: what was the tax status of a pension account (not the benefits paid out, but the actual account) after a self-managed super fund member died?
Same-sex couples: your super rights explained
Until recently, same-sex couples were treated very differently to heterosexual couples (de facto and married), when dealing with certain superannuation entitlements and retirement planning needs. The good news is that many of the homophobic inequities in superannuation and retirement policy have been eradicated.
