SMSF audit: Where is your fund’s trust deed and investment strategy?
Q: Do I need to provide a copy of my super fund’s trust deed and financial strategy to my SMSF fund auditor in order to complete the auditing process? ‘Yes’ is the answer, based on the ATO publication ‘Auditing a self-managed super fund’, which provides instructions for SMSF auditors.
SMSF trustee declaration: a quick guide
When setting up your SMSF, you must sign a SMSF trustee declaration that confirms you understand the responsibilities and duties involved in running a SMSF.
SMSF basics: Trish’s 10 commandments of DIY super
If you’re running a self-managed super fund, then you’re obviously aware that being a SMSF trustee/member is a very different experience to belonging to a large super fund. In a large super fund, someone else looks after your superannuation benefits.
Is DIY super right for you?
Running your own super fund is not necessarily a difficult task but you need to keep your wits about you. You may hear a lot a noise about DIY super, and sometimes from people who know nothing about super. Your best defence against bad advice is to start with your own research.
SMSF basics: Updating SMSF trust deeds
Q: I have had a SMSF since 1996. As rules concerning income streams etc have changed since the date of my deed, can we simply sign a current trust deed to make it effective for our requirements, or do I need to amend the relevant clauses in the old deed?
Cooper Review: Government flags ‘bye bye’ to SMSF borrowing
The Federal Government released its response to the Cooper Report on 16 December 2010, and among the 139 recommendations it took on board from the Cooper Report, one of those recommendations could potentially be explosive for some SMSF trustees.
THE SOAPBOX: Gearing can be the means, but not the end
As a property and share investor for more than 20 years, gearing (borrowing) can be a legitimate means to purchase assets, but gearing is not an investment in itself: it is simply a means to invest with associated costs and extra risk.
SMSF investment: Trading shares is OK
Q. How often or by what criteria can you buy and sell listed shares to obtain a financial gain without being classed as a trader? I understand the trader/investor criteria outside the fund and the tax treatment but is it any different inside the fund?
SMSF investment: overseas property
Q: Since we can now use super to purchase real estate, is this also true for property in the United States? Can you provide me with some guidance on how I could find out the process and correct entities to form to do this?
SMSFs: Purchasing options is OK, and even sometimes CFDs
Q: Can a SMSF buy/sell call/put options? I understand that CFDs are not permitted because it breaches the charge over asset regulation. However, is that true that options are derivatives and in giving shares as a collateral (when writing options) [...]
