What makes a financial adviser independent?
Just because a financial planner’s business card doesn’t display the logo of a bank or insurance company doesn’t mean he or she is independent.
Set out below are all SuperGuide articles that relate to Opinion.
Housing affordability is a problem. Here’s why super-for-housing isn’t a solution
The idea that young Australians should be able to dip into their super to help buy their first home keeps going round and round. The most recent iteration put forward by the Coalition’s Tim Wilson and a clutch of other backbenchers has the catchy slogan Home First, Super Second.
Yes, women retire with less than men, but boosting compulsory super won’t help
All sorts of claims are being made following the release of the Retirement Income Review, including that it paid insufficient attention to issues of gender.
Super funds have been working for themselves when they should have been working for us. That’s about to change.
Have you ever wondered why your super fund rarely sends you mail? It could be because it is one of the 36 funds that perform badly, or one of the six funds that perform extraordinarily badly. As of mid last year those six funds managed the retirement savings of 900,000 Australians.
That extra you’re about to get in super, most of it will come from you, but don’t expect the ads to tell you that
There’s something odd about those television and internet advertisements telling us we are getting more super.
Do retirees hoard their superannuation?
Jim Bonham from Save Our Super examines recent claims that retirees have been hoarding their superannuation.
Keep a healthy perspective on the virus
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?
‘Pension tax’ deemed unfair
As official interest rates drop to a record low of 1%, Age Pensioners who depend on income from cash investments face a double whammy. Not only do they receive less income from their bank deposits as interest rates fall, but they also risk losing some pension because they are deemed to earn more than they do.
What should the federal government’s super and retirement planning priorities be?
As we start a new Parliament, we asked some of Australia’s top experts in superannuation and retirement planning what they think the government should be focusing on.
Never stand between a politician and a big pot of money: How greed is destroying super
Many of today’s retirees are feeling betrayed. In 1992, Australians entered into an agreement. They agreed with a plan made by the politicians of the day that, in order to reduce the burden of the Age Pension on future generations of working taxpayers, everyone would save super for their own retirement.
Labor’s franking credits policy will reduce income for low and middle earners
In this article, I dig into this subject in more detail, particularly for those who hold their shares directly in their own names, to show what the ALP proposal really means and how it would operate.
SMSFs: 3 year audits policy will add complexity and not benefit trustees
As an SMSF trustee, Dr Bonham is deeply concerned about the proposed changes to the SMSF audit rules, and the ongoing instability for retirees and future retirees.
SMSFs: What are the consequences of the 3 yearly audits policy?
After the initial shock has worn off, and now that Treasury has released a discussion paper outlining the proposed three-year audit cycle for SMSFs, it is time to consider how the proposed measures (if adopted) will be rolled out, and how these measures will affect both the SMSF sector and the obligations of SMSF trustees.
Is $1 million really the magic number to start an SMSF?
Depending on who you believe, self-managed superannuation funds range from being the greatest invention of the modern age or the most likely cause of the next financial crisis.
Labor’s franking credits policy will hurt 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.
