How you organize and structure your superannuation is really important for later life. You want to ensure that you maximize your wealth capacity and save as much as you possibly can for retirement. During the Global Financial Crisis of the late 2000s, a lot of Australian retirees lost a good chunk of their retirement savings and were forced to return to the workforce, purely because their contributions fared poorly. As a result, how you set up your retirement savings is critical for both you and your family. Indeed, there has been a significant increase in the amount of self-managed super fund accountants in Australia, which can be attributed to the large number of benefits they possess. So, let’s check out some of the advantages of consulting with self-managed super fund accountants.
Greater control over your investment
One of the reasons why self managed super fund accountants are growing in popularity is because members have a greater idea as to where their savings are actually being invested. Put simply, investors have more confidence when making their financial decisions and any lifestyle choices and you only have to pay for services which you deem to be appropriate for your particular circumstances.
More flexibility
Furthermore, whilst you also have a greater level of autonomy over your investment and retirement savings, you also have more flexibility in terms of investment options. In comparison to generic financial options, you can invest in listed shares, direct property alternatives and a variety of bond options. In addition, you can create your own, unique business strategy and adjust your portfolio in accordance to market changes.
You can also run both accumulation and pension accounts simultaneously, allowing for a quick and effective response to changing market conditions or regulations. With a retail or industry alternative, when you want to drawdown your super benefit as a pension, it will need to be transferred to a separate pension account. Any additional contributions you make will be added to a separate accumulation account. This obviously undermines the efficiency at which you can adjust your retirement savings, particularly if economic conditions require a quick response to be effective. In this sense, self-managed super fund accountants can be really helpful in terms of bolstering the efficiency of your retirement contributions.
Tax concessions
Another advantage of convening with self-managed super fund accountants is that they can help you gain from tax concessions. Indeed, the flexible structure of the accounts means wealth can be transferred from generation to generation, while minimizing tax exposure. Likewise, unlike industry options where the 15% contributions tax is reduced from the overall contribution when the investment is paid, in a SMSF, these payments don’t need to be made until you have lodged your annual tax return!
Lower management fees
By convening with self-managed super fund accountants, you also benefit from access to lower management fees. Members can combine their assets in a compounded retirement option, which can be a more cost effective outcome for all parties involved. In addition, by being able to combine your financial resources with up to three other individuals, you may in fact be able to access other investment opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable, particularly if you were to open an individual account.
Estate planning
Concurrently, organizing your retirement savings with self-managed super fund accountants will help with the overall efficiency of your estate planning. Indeed, members can make binding death benefit nominations that are permanent, whereas public alternatives generally require the individual to continually update their death benefit nominations every three years. Moreover, self-managed super fund accountants can also grant you greater flexibility and specificity in terms of how those death benefits are to be paid and distributed.