This article explores what it means to ‘retire’ from a superannuation perspective and so to access your superannuation funds.

From 1 July 2017, there are a number of key changes in thresholds and rates impacting on superannuation, including most of the measures announced in the 2017 Federal Budget. In this article we examine thresholds and rates that apply from 1 July 2017 and recent reform amendments.

In the 2017 Federal Budget (announced on 9 May 2017), the government promised to help “Australians boost their savings for their first home by allowing them to build a deposit inside superannuation” – Source Budget 2017-18 Fact Sheet 1.4.

From 1 July 2017, earnings on assets supporting a transition to retirement (TTR) pension income stream will no longer receive a tax exemption; further the concessional contribution cap will be reduced. In this article, we consider those situations where TTR remains a worthwhile strategy, even if less effective.

From 1 July 2017 a $1.6 million limit will apply on the amount of superannuation that an individual can transfer from accumulation phase to pension phase, where earnings are tax-free.

From 1 July 2017, there are changes to concessional (pre-tax) contributions. Concessional contributions include salary sacrifice, super guarantee, employer contributions and self-employed tax deductible contributions.

From 1 July 2017 there are changes to non-concessional (post tax) contributions. The contribution cap will drop to $100,000 per year and non-concessional contributions will be restricted if your total super balance exceeds $1.6 million. Further, the bring forward of non-concessional contributions will still be allowed under age 65, however, transitional measures will apply.

The ‘Fair and Sustainable Superannuation’ package announced in the 2016/17 Budget contains the most significant superannuation changes since 2007. Many of these proposals became law on 29 November 2016.

Ok, another year is nearing its conclusion. How did that happen? Where did the year go, is it just me of is time passing by faster and faster each year?

For many Australians, it is a reality that at some point the family home will be sold (voluntarily or not) to prepare for, fund or fuel retirement. It is a complex decision with many moving parts. Like most complex, multi-dimensional financial decisions, a financial adviser is best placed to help you navigate through all the financial considerations and tradeoffs.

We are now ready to look at Transition to Retirement in action.

We continue with this 10 year anniversary, 3 part series on The Transition to Retirement Strategy.

This year is the 10 year anniversary of the Transition to Retirement Strategy. This fact combined with the number of questions we still get from would be clients about how the strategy works, I thought I would put together this 3 part series on the subject. So let’s start with some basics.

Let’s start at the beginning. The beginning is the end.

With everybody writing about the recent share market falls I thought something different was in order. Let’s talk about annuities. The least exciting thing I could think of, but not entirely inappropriate in the context of trying to balance out the risk within a portfolio.

1. 4% is the average

This is going to be a non-technical take on volatility. If you are interested in a better understanding of “standard deviation” or “dispersion of returns” then stop reading now.

Many of the world’s sports greats may have been born with their talents, yet they all needed the help of a coach to help them become champions. The same goes for financial success, where doing-it-yourself is rarely better.

There are exceptions to every rule, but we are not interested in the exceptions. The themes in this article are high level and strategic and will not date over time.

A family trust is a useful and powerful tool when used in the right circumstances. That being said, too often they are set up without proper consideration of their utility, costs or setbacks.

Estate planning is the classic Important Not Urgent task on our to-do lists. It is simply one of those things that needs to be done and is always at the bottom of our priority lists. The best way to get it done, and done well, is not to do it yourself. Engage a professional and that will force you to address it.

Since 2007, there has been an ever increasing interest in using ones superannuation to buy an investment property (via an SMSF). It wasn’t really until 2010 that the strategy started to gain traction as major banks begin offering SMSF loans with competitive interest rates.

The more traditional formats of this question are:

It’s a new financial year and you have been threatening to borrow and invest for some time into a residential investment property.

SMSFs form the largest and fastest growing sector of the $1.9 Trillion superannuation system with over 30,000 new funds set up annually and an estimated $600 Billion of assets.

Let’s do something different for a change. Let’s discuss tax planning at the beginning of the financial year rather than at the end. What is the point of the last minute mad rush each and every June? Also I prefer BOFY (Beginning of Financial Year) to EOFY, it has a nicer ring to it.

Seeing the future will impact your view of today. Thinking about and planning for the future can have a strong impact on our spending, saving and investing behaviour.

In chess, the best tactics can’t win you the game if you don’t have a proper strategy in place, an End Game. Strategy is about setting up long-term goals and objectives, a vision for the future that motivates and pulls you. It involves understanding what you want to do and why you want to do it. Tactics are the actions that get you there.

I am writing this article on the simple assumption that if you borrow money you should have a plan to pay it back. I cannot think of a simpler and more self-evident statement.

Gearing is the act of borrowing money to buy something that “inflates” in value. The “inflation” of the asset is what we call “growth”.

If you are under 40, earn a good income, but are still renting and have no assets of any real value, you could well be a GINA (Great Income, No Assets).

Wow, what a budget. This is the most significant budget of the last decade as it relates to superannuation.

To put it bluntly, Baby Boomers need to help their kids get into the property market. Without that help the maths doesn’t work and they will not be able to do it. It’s as simple as that.