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22 January 2025
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The transfer balance cap has required some large SMSFs to transfer pension money back to accumulation, and the two pools must be treated carefully to maintain the full benefits from superannuation.
The net capital gains of an SMSF for an income year form part of the fund’s assessable income.
In retirement, it is the level of spending rather than investment returns which is the primary determinant of retirement outcomes, and there is a significant difference in spending patterns in later years.
Accurium's facts and figures guide compiles current rates and schedules for tax, superannuation, retirement, social security and aged care, updated to 1 January 2018.
Months after the major superannuation reforms of 1 July 2017, advisers and their clients are still asking important questions, especially about transfer balance caps and segregation.
Accurium’s decision charts making sense of the superannuation reforms
Defined benefit pensions once meant sitting back and enjoying the guaranteed income flow for life, but their treatment under the new pension rules is a potential minefield.
This SMSF Retirement Insights paper is a thought-provoking study on the life expectancy of SMSF trustees.
Four questions every SMSF member with large balances should be asking in the run up to 30 June 2017. There's enough here to warn not to leave understanding the rules until the last minute.
Anyone with large super balances should know their choices well before 1 July 2017, although they no longer have to decide how to segregate between accumulation and pension.
Long periods of low returns are likely to compromise retirement goals that were set some years ago. This places greater importance on retirement advice and not assuming average returns and lifespans.
SMSFs transferring funds to a tax-free pension account under the proposed cap of $1.6 million will not need to sell or segregate assets from an accumulation account for the same member.
Last year, I wrote an article suggesting returns from ASX stocks would trample those from housing over the next decade. One year later, this is an update on how that forecast is going and what's changed since.
The housing market was subdued in 2024, and pessimism abounds as we start the new year. 2025 is likely to be a tale of two halves, with interest rate cuts fuelling a resurgence in buyer demand in the second half of the year.
This examines the performance of key asset classes and sub-sectors in 2024 and over longer timeframes, and the lessons that can be drawn for constructing an investment portfolio for the next decade.
The renowned investor has penned his first investor letter for 2025 and it’s a ripper. He runs through what bubbles are, which ones he’s experienced, and whether today’s markets qualify as the third major bubble of this century.
Key lessons include expensive stocks can always get more expensive, Bitcoin is our tulip mania, follow the smart money, the young are coming with pitchforks on housing, and the importance of staying invested.
Check out the most-read Firstlinks articles from 2024. From '16 ASX stocks to buy and hold forever', to 'The best strategy to build income for life', and 'Where baby boomer wealth will end up', there's something for all.