SMSF

While the move to tax superannuation balances above $3 million at a higher rate would affect only a handful of people at first, if the threshold is not indexed to inflation, future generations may be turned off from investing in their super, industry leaders say.

Australians’ penchant for property investment comes with the caveat that patience is a necessary virtue. This applies doubly so for fretful LRBA holders, writes Nicholas Way.

The CEO of the SMSF Association, John Maroney, will step down after the 2023 National Conference in Melbourne after nearly six years in the position.

News that Australian Super had reported a negative return of just 2.7 per cent for the FY22 financial year likely came as a surprise to many.

While the focus of the advice industry groups has very much been around making the day to day lives of those in the industry easier, the likes of the AFCA, Vanguard and several law firms have offered insight into the impact on the consumer.

2022 has marked just the fifth financial year of negative returns since the SG became compulsory in 1992. This should not be a surprising result.

Gold has a colourful history, going back thousands of years, as a means to store and transport wealth and a way to help protect against the inflationary impacts on currency buying power.

Self-managed super funds have once again returned to popularity in recent years, with establishments seeing growth once again, as more Australians become engaged with their retirement assets.

Bringing oversight to a multi-trillion dollar sector was important, but the regulations are far from perfect, with many suggesting they effectively direct industry funds toward an indexed approach, or alternatively, don’t appreciate the nuances of investing for the very long-term.

The peak body for those advising self-managed super funds, the SMSF Association, has called for a higher education requirement for the sector.

During a recent presentation of Invesco Global Consulting’s program, Priceless, I asked a room full of advisers how many of them had changed the way they do their annual client review meetings in the last 5 years (COVID19 changes aside). 

The lockdowns of 2021 and a trend for younger people to set up a self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) have driven a sharp growth in the number of funds being established in Australia with assets their assets under management (AUM) now approaching $1 trillion.