We're nearing the end of the financial year and it's time for SMSFs and other super funds to make the most of the strategies available to them. Here's a 24-point checklist of the most important issues to address.
The surviving spouse has a lot to think about when a member of an SMSF dies. While it pays to understand the options quickly, often they’re best served by moving a little more slowly before making final decisions.
Vanguard's superannuation offering has recently lowered fees to go head-to-head with the large superannuation funds, but will it really be able to compete?
Since the introduction of compulsory super, the industry has pushed its members to put as much as possible into super. It has been a disservice to anyone entering retirement who could have owned a home instead.
Debates about retirement tend to focus on the financial aspects: income, tax, estates, wills, and the like. Less attention is paid to the psychological challenges of retirement, which can often be more demanding.
A healthy couple entering retirement can expect at least one of them to live for 30 more years. What do the 30-year asset performance charts say about returns, ignoring the pessimism that the future will be worse?
The late 50s and early 60s are the perfect age for investors to embark on a savings sprint, assess the viability of their portfolio, and build out their stake in safer securities.
New data shows the number of advised SMSFs is increasing at the expense of self-directed SMSFs. It also suggests more SMSFs are turning to international markets and ETFs to diversify their investment portfolios.
The rules to age successfully include, 'the unexamined life lasts longer', 'change no more than one-eighth of your life at a time', 'nobody is thinking about you', and 'pursue virtue but don’t sweat it'.