Following my previous article for retired members in pension phase to lobby federal members and the Government for a reduction in the minimum drawdown for account based pensions. Mr Shorton has announced an extension to the draw-down relief to the 2012-2013 financial year. 

Following recent announcements made on superannuation yesterday by the Labor Federal Government, it is middle Australian’s and most importantly those with SMSF which will suffer lower retirement benefits. 

The Federal Government has unveiled its legislation which will allow employees over the age of 70 to continue to receive super contributions. Currently employers have no obligation to make super contributions for workers who are 70 or older. The government had previously vowed to raise the cap to apply only to workers over age 75, but this age bracket has now been removed under legislation put into parliament.   

The deductibility of risk insurance premiums for policies held inside superannuation funds has now been further clarified and made easier to understand. New income tax rules handed down this week have clarified the tax deductibility of insurance premiums taken out inside of superannuation funds. These recent changes to the rules have been a result of a consultative process with the financial services industry.  

In June 2011 the Government released a consultation paper on the proposed operation and design of the 2010 Federal Budget proposal for a low income earners Government contribution.  

There is a lot of confusion in the market place about the valuation of fund assets. Although not currently required by law, both the ATO and 'best practice' accounting standards suggest that a self-managed super fund should account for fund assets on a market value basis, rather than historical cost or any other method.  

In the May 2011 budget the Australian Government announced that the Australian economy is in a strong position. Timely and targeted stimulus helped Australia to avoid recession during the global financial crisis and real GDP in now growing at around it trends rate. The Government announced that the global economy has recovered from recession faster than expected and financial market conditions have improved since the sharp increase in market volatility and stress experienced in mid-2010 when the European sovereign debt crises reached its peak. 

Diversification means spreading your capital across different investments to reduce your overall investment risk. So, if one investment performs poorly over a certain period, other investments may perform better over that same period, reducing the overall losses of your investment portfolio.  

The following presentation outlines the considerations and requirements in order to establish a Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF).