Guest contributor, Jim Bonham: Dr Jim Bonham is a retired scientist and R&D manager. He has a PhD in Physical Chemistry and a graduate diploma in management. As an SMSF trustee, he is deeply concerned about the proposed changes to the SMSF audit rules, and the ongoing instability for retirees and future retirees. ... Read more
Guest contributor: SMSF audit proposal will increase fees for SMSF trustees
Guest contributor: Belinda Aisbett, CA, Bacc, SSA, SSAud, a long-time specialist SMSF auditor, and director of Super Sphere Pty Ltd believes moving to an opt-in three-year SMSF audit regime will lead to increased audit fees for SMSF trustees, additional compliance costs, and in turn will not reduce the compliance ... Read more
Guest contributor: You don’t need $1 million in super to start an SMSF
Guest contributor: Meg Heffron, the author of this article, is co-founder and a Director of Heffron SMSF Solutions – a firm that specialises in SMSFs. She is a qualified actuary with more than 25 years of superannuation experience. Depending on who you believe, self-managed superannuation funds range from being the ... Read more
‘Member for Hypocrisy’: Minister called out by Liberal supporters
The Liberal government is now actively preparing for a federal election in late 2018, or in early 2019. Although the 2018 Federal Budget is an election budget promising tax cuts and other benefits, it was not that long ago that the Liberal government made significant changes to the super and retirement rules (July ... Read more
Guest contributor: ALP’s plan to confiscate franking credits hits retirees
The Australian Labor Party’s proposal to deny a cash refund on excess franking credits from Australian shares has very similar effects to the destructive and self-defeating consequences of the federal government’s 2017 changes to the Age Pension asset test (see my other SuperGuide article Age Pension changes: ... Read more
Age Pension changes: Government cuts benefits and takes from future generations
Introducing our guest contributor, Jim Bonham: Dr Jim Bonham is a retired scientist and manager. Although he is unaffected by the recent changes to the superannuation and Age Pension rules, as an SMSF trustee, he is deeply concerned about the ongoing instability for retirees and future retirees. In the article below, ... Read more
Deferred annuity: When is the right time during retirement to purchase a DA?
Note: In this article, Sean Corbett, an annuities expert and a SuperGuide guest contributor, answers the important question of when is the right time to purchase a deferred lifetime annuity. Separately, Sean has also written an excellent article comparing different retirement options, and under what circumstances such ... Read more
Guest contributor: Reducing the risk of outliving your retirement savings
Note: Since 1 July 2017, the government has extended the tax exemption for earnings in retirement (applicable to super pensions) to other retirement products such as deferred lifetime annuities, and also to in-house annuity products potentially offered by super funds or other financial organisations. In this article, ... Read more
Assistant Treasurer responds to Retirementgate (aka Age Pension debacle)
Earlier in 2017, SuperGuide published a series of articles on the financial hit that many retired Australians experienced when the harsh changes to the Age Pension assets test took effect from 1 January 2017. The articles were published, with the assistance of advocacy group, Save Our Super, and with financial ... Read more
Retirementgate: Government’s Age Pension debacle hits middle Australia
In the past few months, SuperGuide, with the assistance of advocacy group Save Our Super, has reported on the ridiculous state of affairs now facing existing and future retirees. The January 2017 Age Pension changes, namely the harsh regressive effect of the Age Pension assets test, have made it financially more ... Read more
Guest contributor: Franked dividends are not a tax concession
Tax alert! In March 2018, the ALP has announced it is planning to ban cash refunds of excess franking credits (assuming it wins the 2019 Federal Election), which will potentially reduce superannuation returns, and dramatically cut retiree income. The contents of this article are more relevant than ever, and Jack ... Read more
Guest contributor: Retirees lose savings due to 2017 Age Pension changes
Note: During the past few months, with the assistance of advocacy group Save Our Super (and using financial modelling provided by Sean Corbett), SuperGuide has highlighted the inequities and disincentives created by the January 2017 changes to the Age Pension assets test. SuperGuide has named this policy debacle, ... Read more
