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22 January 2025
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An SMSF can buy business real property and lease it to a member and the laws and processes are clear. The rent paid is classed as income from the investment rather than a contribution from the member.
It is not a standard end of financial year, as there are many items SMSF trustees and super members should check immediately, especially with the changes taking effect from 1 July 2017.
Australia needs capital for infrastructure, and SMSF trustees want direct access to assets with yield and long-term security. It's a win-win if governments can find a structure to bring the two together.
There are clear signs the Murray Inquiry plans to reintroduce a prohibition on borrowing by superannuation funds including SMSFs, and there is a strong case to protect the retirement savings of the unwary.
A quick explanation of what’s going on with recent changes around super and tax. Financial planners are already working on ways to minimise the impacts for their clients.
Contribution splitting allows a super member to split up to 85% of concessional contributions received in a financial year with their spouse, and there are times when this is a good strategy.
Your age pension entitlement is assessed under the Income Test, and it may be worth re-setting the deductible amount to improve your pension payments if it's been a while since the last calculation.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports from the Cuffelinks article on SMSFs and property spruikers, highlighting some of the risks of a small SMSF taking on large amounts of debt, and becoming unable to meet its obligations. The full Cuffelinks article appears below.
SMSFs are being targeted by property marketers, but is a single, illiquid investment a good super strategy, with its associated leverage? ASIC is worried SMSF trustees are not seeing the full picture, so we went looking.
Around the world, real interest rates are now unusually low or even negative. The hunt for real yield that’s become a preoccupation of investors is likely to remain a dominant feature of investment markets for several years at least.
Every SMSF should have 'industrial strength' administration that is timely, accurate, honest and in conformity with a vast array of rules and regulations.
It is inequitable for the ATO to require an SMSF to make advance payments of the estimated tax for the year, but not pay refunds in advance based on estimated franking credits.
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.