Education

An SMSF'sAssetsmust be held in the name of the fund (or its trustee) with clear legal ownership, kept separate from the members' personal assets ATO SMSF investment requirements. Overseas, that is often difficult. Some countries do not recognise Australian super fund trustees or do …

When you die, theAssetsyou own personally — your home, your bank accounts, your shares held in your own name — form your estate and are distributed according to your will.Superannuationis different. You do not “own” your super the way you own your house; it …

You can generally only access your super once you reach preservation age (now 60) and retire, or turn 65 ATO. Taking benefits outside a valid condition of release — to pay down a mortgage, cover aBusinessshortfall, or fund a holiday — is illegal early …

Every SMSF is a trust, and a trust is governed by its deed. Trustees must pay benefits to members according to the trust deed and super laws ATO obligations. That phrase — “the trust deed and super laws” — is the key. Meeting a …

Once your SMSF is paying you a retirement-phase account-based pension, it must pay at least a minimum amount each year. The minimum is a percentage of your pensionAccount Balanceat 1 July (or at commencement), set by your age: 4% under 65, 5% for 65–74, …

The first step is to separate two ideas that people routinely merge. The first is tax on the fund's investment earnings — the rent, dividends, interest and capital gains the fund'sAssetsgenerate. The second is tax on the benefits a member receives — the pension …

An account-based pension is legally a commitment to pay an income stream from a defined starting capital. When the pension begins, its opening balance is set, and so is its “tax-free/taxable” proportion — the split between the tax-free and taxable components, fixed at commencement …