Note: This article compares the investment performance of industry super funds and retail super funds for the 2017 calendar year, and over 5 years and 10 years to 31 December 2017. You can also access the performance data, and comparison of performance for industry funds and retail funds going back 7 calendar years for ... Read more
Accessing super to purchase first home
Q: I am 58 years of age. Can I use my super to purchase my first home in Australia?The answer is no, and yes.The general rule is that you must satisfy a condition of release to access super and wanting to buy a property to live in, is not considered a condition of release.The ‘yes’ bit starts now.If an ... Read more
Accessing super for a home loan deposit?
Q: A few years back my wife and I owned six homes, before we were caught out by a marketeer over an investment. We lost it all. Not good when you consider we are in our 50s. Now 59, we are looking at trying to by a modest unit or home, within the next two years. Would we both be able to cash in our super funds toward a ... Read more
Non-cash contributions, CGT and contributions caps
Q: My husband and I, both near 50, plan to spend around $700,000 of our cash to buy shares soon. We don’t have a trust structure or company (both PAYG) and wondered how/if we could buy them in the name of our self-managed super fund? How do we get the cash from our names to the super fund? I’ve read about in-specie ... Read more
Industry funds outperform retail funds for 2016/2017 year, and longer term
Note: This article compares the investment performance of industry super funds and retail super funds for the 2016/2017 financial year, and over 5 years and 10 years to 30 June 2017. You can also access the performance data, and comparison of performance for industry funds and retail funds going back 7 financial years ... Read more
Property and super: What’s the deal? (15 popular Q & As)
We receive many questions from readers about investing in property using superannuation money. Questions range from: ‘Can I withdraw my super to buy a house to live in?’, right through to ‘How can I use my super fund to borrow money to invest in property?’.For the convenience of our 2.5 million-plus readers, we ... Read more
SMSF investment: Where can I find information about SMSF borrowing?
Q: I’ve just finished reading DIY Super For Dummies and found it really helpful. What interested me was the borrowing options for SMSFs. We already own a property in our fund and we are looking at using borrowings for financing our next fund purchase. In your book, you mention a joint venture to invest in property with ... Read more
SMSF borrowing: Investing in property (what’s OK and NOT OK)
If you run a self-managed superannuation fund, you can invest in all types of real property, including residential property, commercial property, industrial property and even a farm (under certain circumstances).Before September 2007, the capacity to use borrowed money to purchase an SMSF asset, such as real ... Read more
Know your super limits: Reducing CGT via concessional contributions
Q: I am one of those people (and my wife) who made the decision years ago to invest in property rather than super. Now at 60, (wife 57) I am retired and live off my property investments. I would like to get rid of the properties at about age 65. Mainly because of the worry, and maintenance upkeep, and to give us more ... Read more
SMSF borrowing: Related party LRBAs must be on arm’s length basis
Note: This article deals specifically with SMSF limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBAs) financed by related parties, rather than financial organisations. If you’re seeking general information on SMSF borrowing and LRBAs, see SuperGuide articles SMSFs for Beginners: Can my DIY super fund borrow money? and SMSF ... Read more
SMSF basics: Can my DIY super fund buy my residential investment property?
Q: I own a residential unit as an investment property as a personal investment. I would like to keep this unit as long as possible. The unit is a safe income stream and a safe haven against market uncertainty. However, if I have to sell it later, I won’t be able to put the money into my SMSF because of the work test ... Read more
SMSF investment: Can we sell fund assets to members?
Q: We understand that SMSFs cannot purchase property from members. What we want to know is whether members can purchase property owned by the SMSF, providing fair market valuation is paid for this? Does the valuation need to be established through a valuation, or is an appraisal sufficient? Our SMSF currently jointly ... Read more
