Life Insurance – What Structure Works for Your Family?
[This article is from our partners, Quill Group] Welcome to the new financial year! Over the past six to twelve months we’ve had a number of people enquire about life insurance and how to optimally structure it for their family. It should come as no surprise that the best way to structure it will depend […]
EOFY To-Do’s for Trustees
An article from our partner, Quill Group. The end of the 2020/21 financial year is approaching – a great time to perform some financial “housekeeping”, according to your personal circumstances. For many individuals, Superannuation and the management of their SMSF is often an important consideration at this time of year. So, let’s look at some […]
The Best Investment Anyone Can Make: 3 High-Yielding Investments In Yourself
An investment in yourself is one that will make massive positive returns for you, your family and your business. Whether it’s investing time in learning a new skill, or putting money to hiring a coach, it’s important to re-think the practice of investing in yourself in terms of returns and how it will help you […]
What the Federal Budget 2021-22 Means For You, Your Family & Your Fund
[a story from our partner, Quill Group] Budget Summary The 2021-22 Federal Budget is a balancing act between a better than anticipated deficit ($106 bn), an impending election, and the need to invest in the long term. Key initiatives include: Extension of temporary full expensing and loss-carry back providing immediate deductions for business investment in […]
What COVID-19 Has Taught Us About the Offshoring Model
Facing rapid market change and regulatory conditions, Aussie financial services firms are partnering with third-party firms more than ever before. Most often, this is an economic decision to remove tedious low-value work from teams who can focus on high-yielding activities, by re-allocating the services to regions with lower pay. Meanwhile, some firms opt to enhance […]
SMSF Investment Strategy: Considerations for Trustees
What’s the Purpose of an SMSF Investment Strategy? An investment strategy for your self-managed super fund (SMSF) is a legal requirement, designed to assist Trustees when making investment decisions for the Fund. The SMSF Investment Strategy must be clearly articulated – the ATO recommends it is written down – to keep members aligned with the […]
The Top 5 Mistakes made on an SMSF: Advice from the Australian Tax Office
The ATO published a list of the most common mistakes made in the accounting process of SMSFs around the country last year. A few of the top five mistakes relate to the SMSF Annual Return (SAR) which is required to be lodged for some SMSFs next month. With recent growth of 15% in SMSF’s for […]
SMSF Auditor Independence Standards – The Tough Decisions for Accounting Firms
In preparation for a tougher clamp down on SMSF Audit Independence Standards as of July 1, many accounting firms face a predicament. Under the updated code, those firms that offer both non assurance and SMSF audit services to their SMSF clients to decide to offer one, or the other. The independence standard also affects those […]
SMSF costs: How much does an SMSF really cost?
This article on SMSF costs was originally posted in The Australian, 13 July 2020 under the title “How much does an SMSF really cost? That depends on who you ask” What are the average SMSF costs? Even the regulators can’t agree on how much it costs to run a self-managed superannuation fund. The Australian Taxation […]
SMSF Diversification Strategy – are you on top of your obligations?
Are you questioning your obligations and requirements aligning with your SMSF diversification strategy? The Australian Taxation Office has recently mailed around 17,000 SMSF trustees with a ‘please explain’ letter. The target was a batch of funds that have more than 90% of their assets in a single asset class. In many uninformed sectors of the […]