Along with this raft of legislative change, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has also introduced new licensing requirements for accountants who work with and advise Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) Trustees. Only approx. 10% of accountants have complied with these changes to date.
As such if you, as many, consider your accountant would be your 1st port of call for Financial Advice, they will likely advise you, they are unable to provide the information you require & should consult a qualified Financial Adviser / Planner.
This is general advice only and you should seek expert financial advice from a qualified financial adviser before acting on any of the information covered in these topics.
Team up with your spouse to get the most out of super
Under current rules an individual can hold $1.6 million in the tax free pension phase of superannuation whereas previously there was no limit on the the amount that could be used to start a retirement income stream. Given there are limits on what can be contributed to superannuation at any one time, it is imperative that couples look at strategies to equalise their respective member balances to ensure their retirement savings are structured in the most tax effective manner. The earlier this is considered, the more likely this outcome will be achieved.
Some of strategies couples should closely examine to assist in equalising balances include:
- Contribution splitting between spouses.
- The recently introduced catch up provisions for concessional contributions
- Withdrawal and recontribution strategies
- Allocating non concessional contributions appropriately
Two thirds of Australian are in a marital relationship at retirement so its is important that some early planning goes into these strategies.
As Vidal Sassoon said “The only place success comes before work is the dictionary.”
