Superannuation & Pensions

Increasing the tax free portion of your super can be very beneficial if you plan to withdraw funds as an income stream before the age of 60 and for benefit payments in the event of your death.

There are strategies can be put in place to increase the tax free component of your super balance.

You should seek advice sooner rather than later. That would give you time to decide on a strategy and become comfortable with that strategy. There will be enough other things happening in your life at retirement without having to grapple with major financial decisions.

We generally suggest that $500,000 is a good starting point to ensure fees (such as accounting and audit fees) are relative to the earnings and size of the portfolio.

This is generally different for everyone and depends on the lifestyle you would like to maintain upon retirement. Speak to one of our advisers about what might be right for your circumstances.

If you elect to commence a super pension you be will required to satisfy a set of minimum standards in order for you to claim an exemption for the income earned on your pension assets. These standards include:

• The pension must be account-based.
• A minimum amount must be paid out to you annually.
• The capital supporting the pension cannot be increased using contributions or rollover amounts once the pension has started.
• Upon your death your pension can only be transferred to a dependent beneficiary of yours.
• The capital value of the pension or the income from it cannot be used as security for borrowing.
• Before a pension can be commuted, the minimum pension must be paid out.

If you elect to commence a Transition to Retirement Pension you will also be restricted to withdrawing a maximum of 10% of your opening balance annually.

If you breach your concessional cap there are four aspects you need to be aware of:

1. The excess contributions are included in your assessable income and taxed at your marginal tax rate.
2. You will be liable to pay an excess contribution charge to neutralise any benefit that you may have received from having the funds held in the concessionally taxed super environment.
3. You can elect to have up to 85% of the excess amount released from your super fund.
4. Any excess amount remaining within the fund will count against the non-concessional contributions cap.

If you breach the non-concessional cap there are three aspects you need to be aware of:

1. An amount equal to the excess contributions tax (46.5%) will be subtracted from your non-concessional contributions over the cap limit.
2. You must withdraw the after tax excess contributions from your superannuation fund.
3. Amounts in excess of the concessional contributions cap that you have not withdrawn count towards the non-concessional cap.

There are a few options:

• You can leave the money in the fund.
• You can ask your new employer to pay contributions to your old fund – they may or may not be able to do this.
• You can transfer or roll-over the money from your old fund into your new fund.

If you have made a binding nomination and appointed a beneficiary, this person will receive your funds.  If you haven’t done this, the trustee decides who they pay the money to based on what is set out in the trust deed.

Superannuation death benefits are taxed differently depending on who receives them.  It essentially depends on whether the recipient is a dependent or a non-dependent.

A dependent includes:

• A spouse or de facto.
• A child under 18.
• Someone financially dependent on you (this could include an adult child).
• Or a person with whom you had an 'interdependent' relationship (e.g. may be a same sex relationship or someone with whom you lived in a close and ongoing relationship with  financial and domestic support).

For tax purposes:

• Super benefits paid to dependants are tax-free.
• Benefits paid to 'non-dependents' are taxed.

Generally, as an Australian resident, you can choose to direct your super guarantee payments and your personal super contributions to your own Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF).  A SMSF is a do-it-yourself superannuation fund of 1-4 members where each member acts as a trustee of the fund.

There are many advantages and disadvantages of establishing a SMSF including:

Advantages:

• More control over retirement assets with the ability to have more transparent investment strategies.
• Greater flexibility is possible in the investments that a SMSF may invest in including business real property.
• A member may commence a Pension while retaining the assets that were held pre-pension.
• Greater flexibility is possible in the overall management and administration of the fund.
• Greater control and flexibility over the tax position of the fund.
• Excellent estate planning benefits.
• Flat Fee structure may mean lower fees to operate; fees more transparent.

Disadvantages:

• Costs of running a SMSF may be greater than the cost of public offer superannuation funds, particularly when the fund is starting out.
• Increased time needs to be set aside for the ongoing management of the fund.
• The Trustees and Directors of Corporate Trustees are personally liable for any actions of the fund.

A TTR is a non-commutable income stream that provides access to your super money prior to retirement and is available to you once you have reached your preservation age.  If you elect to commence a Transition to Retirement Pension (TTR) you will be faced with a maximum pension limit as well as a minimum limit. 

Upon creation of an SMSF, a trustee must be established to govern the fund. The trustee can take the form of either one or more individuals or a company. The trustee or directors of the company are ultimately in control of the fund and hold and invest the fund’s assets for the benefit of the members.

A trustee’s main role is to:

• Act in the best interests of all fund members when making decisions.
• Mmanage the fund separately from personal non super affairs.
• Ensure the money in the fund is only accessed when conditions of release (“retirement”) are met.
• Ensure that the fund meets the ‘Sole Purpose Test’.  This means your fund needs to be maintained for the sole purpose of providing retirement benefits to your members, or to their dependants if a member dies before retirement.

It is important trustees understand their duties, responsibilities, and obligations of being a trustee. As a trustee of an SMSF, one needs to act according to:

• The fund’s trust deed.
• The provisions of the super laws, tax laws and trust laws.

Superannuation is a way of saving for your retirement.

Both you and your employer can make contributions that accumulate over time and this money is then invested in shares, government bonds, property, or other appropriate investments.

On retirement, after disability or death you then receive the money as regular periodic payments (ie, a pension), a lump sum payment, or a combination of both.

Superannuation benefits are comprised of two tax components:

1. A tax-free component.
2. A taxable component.

The tax free component includes all non-concessional contributions made on or after 1 July 2007 and all pre-July 2007 components of superannuation that have been crystallised.

The balance of money remaining in your superannuation account, after subtracting the tax free component, is the taxable component.

When part of a superannuation interest is paid out as a lump sum or as an income stream, the benefit must always be paid in proportion to the tax free and taxable components.

Generally you can withdraw your non-preserved contributions at any time. However, preserved moneys can usually only be withdrawn when you retire and reach a condition of release.

You cannot withdraw preserved contributions, until you:

• Retire and reach preservation age (between the age of 60 or 55 depending on your date of birth).
• Turn 65.
• Qualify under what is called the “transition to retirement” rules.
• Suffer from a total and permanent disability.
• Have a terminal illness and are under the age of 60.
• Pass away.
• Can show that there is severe financial hardship or other compassionate grounds.

The application forms for Age Pension can be quite lengthy, so we would suggest obtaining these forms from Centrelink approximately 3 months before turning Age Pension age. This will then give you plenty of time to work through the forms and seek advice if required. While the forms can be lodged anytime in the 3 months before turning Age Pension age, we would suggest lodging the forms approximately 2 to 4 weeks prior to this date.

All of our advisers are qualified and licensed appropriately. The changes implemented for education standards have meant that our advisers are studying again to keep up to date with the financial planning industry regulation.

We offer a free no-obligation appointment to discuss your financial matters. Should you wish to utilize our services, our ongoing advice fees can be deducted from your superannuation, pension or investment portfolio.

Aged care appointments are charged at $385 and allow for 2 meetings with Scott Keeley to discuss aged care costs and how to best afford the accommodation needs for your family member entering an aged care facility.