There are approximately 18,000 licensed and qualified financial planners in Australia, but it has been estimated there may be up to 40,000 individuals calling themselves financial planners. This situation has resulted because currently there are no regulations in place to prevent individuals calling themselves financial planners; even if they aren’t licensed, trained or qualified. Only […]
Monthly Archives: November 2012
Consumers to benefit from lift in financial advice standards
The Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board (APESB) recently proposed a new standard applying to accountants who are also licensed and qualified to provide financial advisory services. The standard, known as APES 230, will apply to accountants who are members of the three main Accounting Bodies; the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia (ICAA), CPA […]
How to develop property with borrowings in your SMSF
Using a Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangement (LRBA) to invest in property via your SMSF is one thing, but using borrowings to finance property development is something else altogether. Whilst the current rules (stated in section 67A and 67B of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act)) allow you to finance a property in your […]
How to reduce the tax on your children’s inheritance
A withdrawal and recontribution strategy can be an effective way to reduce tax for your beneficiaries when they inherit your superannuation later on. However, before we can look at how this strategy works, we need to gain an understanding of the tax components that make up your super account balance. Generally speaking, your super account […]