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Should you start a pension in your SMSF? Weighing up the pros and cons
Starting an SMSF pension unlocks tax-free earnings, but locks in minimum payments and cash flow demands you can’t easily undo.
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Everything SMSF trustees need to know about rebalancing
SMSF trustees need to keep their fund’s investments within its stated asset allocation, and know when and how to rebalance if markets push it off track.
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Property development in an SMSF: ATO guidance
If you are thinking about using your SMSF for a property development, it pays to understand the ATO rules. Failure to do so could be costly.
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Running an SMSF without a financial adviser: What are the risks?
Unadvised doesn’t always mean uninformed. Tim Steele and Meg Heffron on what the data reveals about the 4 in 5 SMSFs now started without financial advice.
Upcoming webinar
SuperGuide members Q&A: September 2026
Thursday 17 September 2026 at 11:00 am AEST
In this webinar super expert Garth McNally answers recent questions from SuperGuide members.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Watch our previous webinar, Downsizer contributions.
Q&A of the month
Q: I’m looking at transferring a property out of my SMSF in specie to myself as the member, but I’d like the property to go directly to my child instead of to me. Would this work within the payment rules, and would it help avoid stamp duty being paid twice, once to me and once to my child?
A: This may be possible, but it depends on the fund’s trust deed, and members should get advice from their SMSF service provider before proceeding.
A property can’t simply be gifted from a fund to a member’s child. That would breach the rule against SMSFs providing financial assistance to members or their relatives. What can happen instead is that a member directs where their own benefit is paid. Written direction is given to the trustee stating that the member wishes to withdraw their benefit as a lump sum, in the form of an in-specie transfer of the property, and that this payment should be made into the child’s name. The benefit remains legally the member’s; the direction simply determines where it lands. This approach was confirmed in Asgard Capital Management Ltd v Maher (2003) FCAFC 156.
Whether this avoids paying stamp duty twice depends on the duty rules in the relevant state or territory, which vary and aren’t settled by the SIS Act or the case law itself. This is worth confirming with an SMSF service provider or accountant as part of the advice above.
Read more about in-specie transfers out of an SMSF.
Tip of the month
With fewer administrative demands at this time of the year, it can be a good time to review the investment performance of your SMSF.
SuperGuide publishes median super fund and pension fund performance data so you can benchmark your fund against the public super funds.
