SMSF - The Freedom Of Managing Your Own Money
Australia's retirement savings industry is second to none. It forces our employers to put money away for us each in each pay packet, and we get to spend that money once we retire.
One of the things I always despise about our retirement industry though, is the way superannuation funds take control of the investment decisions away from me. It is my money, yet I cannot make any investment decisions. The situation has improved over the years, but it is still not good enough. For this reason I set up my own Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF).
Without getting into the legalities of it, an SMSF is a legal structure where you take on the management and administration responsibilities of your superannuation money yourself. Once you set up an SMSF, there are a number of responsibilities which need to be taken care of. You can be as involved as you like with these responsibilities, or outsource where you think it is appropriate. These responsibilities are as follows:
1. Trustee - The trustee is the legal owner of the assets of the fund. Basically it is the trustee who takes legal responsibility for the fund. If anything goes wrong, it is the trustee who gets the blame.
b) All the housekeeping. Someone needs to do all the book keeping and accounting work. This includes preparing all the annual tax statements, balancing the books and lodging tax returns.
c) Audit. Each year your superannuation fund should be audited to ensure it complies with the superannuation regulations. A successful audit will ensure you maintain your "complying" superannuation fund status and can continue to enjoy superannuation tax concessions.
d) Investing the money. Superannuation is retirements savings. Someone needs to make all the investment decisions within the superannuation regulations, in a way which maximises the future retirement benefits of its members.
Myself, well all I wanted was to make my own investment decisions, live and die by my own sword so to speak. I have always thought this was really important as retirement savings are one part of my entire investment strategy and estate, they are not an isolated pool of funds. The decisions I make here need to be responsible to the big picture and work in harmony with the non-retirement savings investment decisions I make.
Time is always an issue though, which is why I outsourced all the other duties. Getting rid of all those responsibilities left me with much more time to research and make appropriate investment decisions. - 23229
One of the things I always despise about our retirement industry though, is the way superannuation funds take control of the investment decisions away from me. It is my money, yet I cannot make any investment decisions. The situation has improved over the years, but it is still not good enough. For this reason I set up my own Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF).
Without getting into the legalities of it, an SMSF is a legal structure where you take on the management and administration responsibilities of your superannuation money yourself. Once you set up an SMSF, there are a number of responsibilities which need to be taken care of. You can be as involved as you like with these responsibilities, or outsource where you think it is appropriate. These responsibilities are as follows:
1. Trustee - The trustee is the legal owner of the assets of the fund. Basically it is the trustee who takes legal responsibility for the fund. If anything goes wrong, it is the trustee who gets the blame.
b) All the housekeeping. Someone needs to do all the book keeping and accounting work. This includes preparing all the annual tax statements, balancing the books and lodging tax returns.
c) Audit. Each year your superannuation fund should be audited to ensure it complies with the superannuation regulations. A successful audit will ensure you maintain your "complying" superannuation fund status and can continue to enjoy superannuation tax concessions.
d) Investing the money. Superannuation is retirements savings. Someone needs to make all the investment decisions within the superannuation regulations, in a way which maximises the future retirement benefits of its members.
Myself, well all I wanted was to make my own investment decisions, live and die by my own sword so to speak. I have always thought this was really important as retirement savings are one part of my entire investment strategy and estate, they are not an isolated pool of funds. The decisions I make here need to be responsible to the big picture and work in harmony with the non-retirement savings investment decisions I make.
Time is always an issue though, which is why I outsourced all the other duties. Getting rid of all those responsibilities left me with much more time to research and make appropriate investment decisions. - 23229
About the Author:
Gnifrus Urquart appreciates controlling his retirement investments, as well as the freedom outsourcing his DIY Super Administration affords him.
posted by X - Men @ 9:02 AM
0 Comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home