SMSF - The Freedom Of Managing Your Own Money
The retirement industry in Australia is second to none in the world. It forces us to save money in a very comfortable way, a way that doesn't impact our disposable income, so we all have a big pool of money to live off in retirement.
One of the pitfalls of superannuation for me though is the way you lose control of your money. It is your money, yet often someone (such as your employer and usually due to your own inaction) decides where your money is invested. For this reason, I set up my own Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF).
Without making this article too complex, all an SMSF is, is a structure which enables you to manage your own superannuation money. There are a number of responsibilities which come with running your own super fund, you can manage these yourself or outsource them as you see fit. Most of these responsibilities follow:
Firstly, someone needs to be the trustee. The trustee takes legal ownership of and responsibility for the fund, and all the assets there within. Time wise, it is not onerous, its more of a legal responsibility.
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.
Thirdly the fund needs to be audited. Each year, it needs to be checked by an independent auditor to ensure you are keeping within the superannuation regulations. This is what will ensure you get to keep receiving your 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.
Personally, I was just interested in managing my investments. All the rest was outsourced. I just wanted to be able to ensure the investment decisions I made were mine so I could feel responsible for any losses or gains that I made. There is nothing worse than when your retirement investments decrease over a year and you have no control whatsoever in the decisions made. I wanted to avoid this. Also, getting control of this meant that I could make investment decisions giving my whole portfolio consideration and not treat my retirement investment as if it were an island, completely separate of other investments I have. It is all part of my estate after all.
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. - 23305
One of the pitfalls of superannuation for me though is the way you lose control of your money. It is your money, yet often someone (such as your employer and usually due to your own inaction) decides where your money is invested. For this reason, I set up my own Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF).
Without making this article too complex, all an SMSF is, is a structure which enables you to manage your own superannuation money. There are a number of responsibilities which come with running your own super fund, you can manage these yourself or outsource them as you see fit. Most of these responsibilities follow:
Firstly, someone needs to be the trustee. The trustee takes legal ownership of and responsibility for the fund, and all the assets there within. Time wise, it is not onerous, its more of a legal responsibility.
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.
Thirdly the fund needs to be audited. Each year, it needs to be checked by an independent auditor to ensure you are keeping within the superannuation regulations. This is what will ensure you get to keep receiving your 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.
Personally, I was just interested in managing my investments. All the rest was outsourced. I just wanted to be able to ensure the investment decisions I made were mine so I could feel responsible for any losses or gains that I made. There is nothing worse than when your retirement investments decrease over a year and you have no control whatsoever in the decisions made. I wanted to avoid this. Also, getting control of this meant that I could make investment decisions giving my whole portfolio consideration and not treat my retirement investment as if it were an island, completely separate of other investments I have. It is all part of my estate after all.
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. - 23305
About the Author:
Gnifrus Urquart appreciates controlling his retirement investments, as well as the freedom outsourcing his DIY Super Administration affords him.
posted by Mr. Forex at
10:16 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home