April 2020 newsletter

Super funds continue to produce strong returns for their members in a difficult economic climate, with the median Growth fund up 1.7% in August for a cumulative return of 2.8% in the first two months of the financial year.

On 22 March 2020 the federal government announced a temporary measure allowing individuals to access up to $10,000 of their superannuation in 2019/20 and a further $10,000 in 2020/21.

Accessing super early due to severe financial hardship is possible under Australian law, provided that you meet strict eligibility conditions and your super fund allows it.

Learn the rules for accessing your super early on compassionate grounds, including for paying your mortgage if you are at risk of losing your home.

There are a number of ways of legally accessing super early via an SMSF. These strategies are useful in times of economic disruption such as the current disruption relating to the coronavirus pandemic.

It’s tempting for SMSF investors to switch from passive investments to actively managed strategies when markets are volatile and falling. But it’s more important than ever to work out the right trade-off between performance and fees to help preserve precious capital.

Keep on top of these potential mishaps with your annual return and you should be able to avoid the ire of the regulator.

Working with the ATO might be the best course of action if your SMSF receives a breach notice.

In early April APRA sent an extraordinary letter to Australia’s banks and insurers, essentially telling them to cut their dividend payments to shareholders in light of the coronavirus crisis.

It’s a rare person who doesn’t want to improve their financial situation, but cost is often a barrier to seeking advice. Yet free advice does exist if you know where to look.

How to plan your income in retirement can be one of the most confusing aspects of retirement planning. In this video members of the Profession of Independent Financial Advisers provide some insights into how they approach it.

With sharemarkets swooning, interest rates being cut and super balances dropping, many retirees are starting to worry about their finances. Here’s our 10 suggestions to stretch your retirement income.

A major market fall is always bad news for investors, especially retirees who have limited time and opportunity to recoup losses. But the impact of losses on your pension income is all in the timing.

Once you start a retirement income stream, minimum annual payments are calculated on your account balance at 1 July each year, multiplied by a percentage factor that increases as you age.

One of the benefits of retirement is that you can start to withdraw your superannuation tax-free. That doesn’t mean it’s a rule-free zone.

Younger retirees might like to consider moving their funds back into accumulation phase for the time being.

Move over midlife crisis. New research shows more of us are going through a major life reassessment much later in life.

With life expectancy projected to continue to rise, along with the cost of living, older Australians face both opportunities and challenges as they head into their ‘third act’ of life.

In this video interview David Williams from My Longevity talks about some of the insights he found when researching what benefits us in later life.

Our community is being economically hit ‘to save the oldies’ – especially with existing health conditions. Should we older people be grateful? How and why could we contribute?