Financial Education

should I salary sacrifice?

Should I salary sacrifice?

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May 17, 2012
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Generally, there are two reasons why you may want to salary sacrifice. The first is to boost your super for retirement. The second is to reduce tax on your salary. If your primary reason is to boost your super for retirement then making contributions yourself via salary sacrifice is a [...]
Excess super contributions tax

Excess super contributions tax

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May 16, 2012
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Excess superannuation contributions tax is an additional tax applied to super contributions which exceed the contribution cap limits. There are two types of contributions which can be made to super and both have a maximum limit per year before the excess tax is applied. The first type of [...]
super co-contribution reduced

Changes to the government superannuation co-contribution scheme from July 2012

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May 10, 2012
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Prior to the May 2012 Federal budget the government announced a reduction in the superannuation co-contribution scheme. The government will reduce the maximum co-contribution to $500 from 1st July 2012 on a 1 for 2 basis. For the current financial year ending on 30th June 2012, a person can [...]
salary sacrice trap

Beware the salary sacrifice trap

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May 9, 2012
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The Federal Government announced numerous proposals in the budget presented on 8th May 2012. One of these was the deferral of allowing individuals with superannuation balances under $500,000 to contribute more than $25,000 into super until 1st July 2014. In the 2010 budget they announced [...]
Not good for baby boomers

Bad news for retiring Baby Boomers

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May 9, 2012
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The Federal Government last night announced a deferral of the pre-tax contribution cap limit until 2014/2015. This is bad news for anyone trying to boost their super over the next 2 years through salary sacrifice arrangements or for self employed people looking to make deductible [...]
Going it alone with a SMSF

Success in going it alone

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April 25, 2012
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In an era when superannuation returns have been disappointing, John Collett examines the pros and cons of taking charge of your own fund. Savvy baby boomers are increasingly asking themselves whether or not to start a DIY superannuation fund. Woeful returns from providers and high fees are [...]
SMSFs lead the way

DIY super funds show experts how it’s done

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April 21, 2012
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Many people would be surprised to learn that the biggest sector in Australia’s superannuation industry isn’t industry funds or the big retail funds that dominate the headlines. Nor is it government or employer funds. Yes, 99 per cent of super funds and almost one-third of super assets are in [...]
confusing jargon with superannuation

Terminal terminology

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April 18, 2012
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Most Australians think jargon renders super baffling and boring, so let’s rephrase that. Are you in breach of your concessional contributions cap because you didn’t factor in the super guarantee before you made salary-sacrifice contributions, thus incurring excess contributions tax? Or did I [...]
retirees opting for self managed super

Retirees increasingly opt for self managed funds

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April 17, 2012
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Statistics from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) suggest that a growing number of retirees are moving their life pension savings into self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs), with about 30 per cent of SMSFs starting pension payments in 2010 being less than two years old, according to a [...]
Government reforms to superannuation

New requirements for employers under superannuation reforms

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April 16, 2012
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The Federal Government is currently in the process of passing new reforms to the Superannuation Guarantees Administration Act 1992(Cth). The Superannuation Legislation Amendment (MySuper Core Provisions) Bill 2011 was introduced on 3 November 2011 and is proposed to come into effect from [...]
Insurance in super

Pros and cons of owning insurance

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April 14, 2012
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WHAT is the difference between owning insurance under my super fund and owning it in my own name? ANSWER: Determining the most appropriate structure to own insurance is dependent upon your age, whether you have a spouse and the age of your other beneficiaries. I will assume that the level of [...]
business women have inadequate super

Businesswomen have inadequate superannuation, survey finds

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April 12, 2012
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THOUSANDS of young businesswomen are facing poverty in old age, with less than half contributing to superannuation, research shows.  Many Australian female business owners will outlive their savings and be unable to sustain current lifestyles in retirement, according to a survey conducted by [...]
clueless is no excuss

Super members ‘clueless’ on retirement income

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April 9, 2012
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IT’S the great Australian turn-off. Despite 20 years of compulsory superannuation, people aged 50 to 74 years have a ”surprisingly poor” grasp of which investment choices ensure the best retirement income, university researchers have found. Of 920 people surveyed who had money in a super fund [...]
Super or the house?

Don’t skewer super for a house

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April 3, 2012
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BUYING that first home is never easy, and ideas to help young people get ahead are floated continually. The latest one is changing the rules to allow young people to use their superannuation as house deposit. Apart from driving up house prices the plan has two other major faults – it ignores [...]
Explaining superannuation

Explaining superannuation

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March 26, 2012
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The biggest criticism of superannuation is that super will not provide people currently working with enough money to retire on. One of the stats that always impresses me is that it was only on the 1st of July 2002 that the employer contribution rate increased to 9% – it is less than 10 years [...]
When to retire?

Age-old questions need answers

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March 26, 2012
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DECIDING when to retire can be one of the scariest decisions you will make. Get the timing wrong and it can affect the way you live for decades. It used to be simple. Most would aim for 55, 60 or 65 years of age, and their superannuation would pay a defined annual benefit which could be [...]
retirement savings

Super for New and Existing Employees

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March 23, 2012
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Explanation of superannuation for new and existing employees. What contributions you can make to super and how you can access super including insurance options available in most funds
planning for retirement

Planning for a pension

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March 21, 2012
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The strategy: To maximise my age-pension entitlement. Can I do that? As this week’s cover story outlines, qualifying for even $1 of age pension can be a big help in making ends meet as you are eligible for the pensioner concession card and all the discounts that come with it. If you have lost [...]
Mining Tax benefits

Millions to directly benefit from mining tax with superannuation savings

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March 21, 2012
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ABOUT 3.6 million low income earners will start to get a $1.9 billion injection into their retirement savings from July following passage of the Government’s mining profits tax. This will lead to a big boost to the superannuation accounts of two million low-income women who usually have great [...]
employer superannuation

Employers obligations to pay superannuation in Australia

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February 23, 2012
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Explanation of the obligation employer's have to pay superannuation for employees in Australia
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