Working longer or retiring earlier: Australia’s retirement reality By Tony Kaye, Senior Personal Finance Writer Super and retirement When Australians are choosing to retire comes down to a range of factors. Vanguard’s 2024 How Australia Retires research found that nearly 50% of retirees have retired earlier than they would have thought. The average retirement age reported by…
Why many of us need a super savings nudge By Tony Kaye, Senior Personal Finance Writer Super and retirement Making extra contributions into super can go a long way. Here’s some easy steps. Each year, October 31 is designated as World Savings Day. In fact, this year actually marks the 100th anniversary of the official launch…
Hidden fees are a super problem By Tony Kaye, Senior Personal Finance Writer Super and retirement The super fees you’re probably being charged. It’s key to compare like for like. Millions of adult Australians have superannuation that’s either held in a managed accumulation account, if they’re still working, or a managed account-based pension, if they’re…
Caregiving can have a retirement sting By Tony Kaye, Senior Personal Finance Writer Super and retirement Around 3 million Australians are unpaid caregivers. Most face a super risk. National Carers Week runs from Sunday October 13 to Saturday October 19 this year, and aims to recognise, celebrate, and raise awareness about the 3 million Australians…
May 2024 | 6 min read The superannuation changes from 1 July By Tony Kaye, Senior Personal Finance Writer The super changes on the way from the start of the 2024-25 financial year. A number of superannuation changes will come into effect from 1 July 2024 that are designed to help working Australians get…
Top Performing Superannuation Funds in Australia – Guess who outperforms again over 1, 3 and 5 years Once again, following the start of a new financial year, we have been working hard behind the scenes to gather all of the data to compare the Top Performing Superannuation Fund Returns in Australia for the 30th of June…
Your self-managed super fund is a powerful investment tool, and a great way of saving for your retirement. But don’t forget that as trustee, with control comes responsibility. And that means it’s up to you to make sure your SMSF is complying with super and tax laws. 1. Give notice If you’re planning to claim…
If you’re thinking about taking out an insurance policy but not sure whether you can afford it, there’s some good news – your superannuation fund may be able to provide you with the cover you need. In fact, if you’re in your employer’s default fund you may already have some cover, as MySuper default funds…
Superannuation contributions can be divided into two types — concessional (before-tax) and non-concessional (after-tax). Each type of super contribution is subject to a contributions cap. A contributions cap sets a limit on the amount of contributions you can make in any one year. For the 2013/2014 year, there are 2 concessional contributions caps you need…
In recent times, we have had more clients enquire about an SMSF to purchase property and other investments An SMSF is not always appropriate, as there are additional ASIC/ATO responsibilities and costs. However, some of the potential benefits and issues of an SMSF include: • More flexible investment choices, including direct shares and real property…