While surveys may be skewed to an extent, they almost effectively summarise consumer sentiment. It then comes as disturbing news that fund executives and superannuation trustees (acting as survey respondents) believe that less than 30% of the SMSF members actually understand the life insurance cover they are being sold with their super fund.
Author: Alan Preston Archives
SMSF Investments Need Risk-benefit Analysis
SMSF is amongst the most sought-after routes of saving in the post-retirement nest. Its ability to diversify into cash funds, ETF and real estate have helped germinate quite a bit of trustee and member interest. It has also lapped up a few government initiatives in the way. This proves beyond doubt that the SMSF market will stay. But is it going to cost us dear in the long run?
Brokers and Spruikers Overselling SMSF Properties
Nearly 4% of the $543 billion held in SMSF investments has been poured into residential real estate. Commercial real estate can boast of roughly three times this figure. When we talk of a cumulative figure in excess of $80 billion, there is a need to be diligent about tracking your investments.
New Standard for Super Payments Released
Come 1st of July 2014 and any employer with more than 20 employees under his belt will have to be really diligent in providing details of his superannuation contribution. SuperStream, also referred to as Data and Payment Standards, asks all the employers (passing the ’20 employee’ criterion) to pay super payments to their employees with the help of the government’s payment system.
Diversification Holds the Key For SMSF Investments
At a point in time when inflation is beyond the expected standards and interest rates are constantly dipping, it may not be wise to place a large fraction of SMSF money in cash. This, however, is exactly as the things are, writes Kate Cowling, in an article for the website Super Review.
Extremely concentrated SMSF portfolios may suffer due to lack of diversification and cash funds are only expected to trip owing to the combined effects of tax and inflation.
ETF seems to be the perfect risk-averse idea; given its ability to diversify SMSF investments.
You can read the original article here.
What is your take on Exchange Traded Funds (ETF)?
Have You Considered the Longevity Question?
People take the mortality equation in right earnest. They fear they may die prematurely and thus try ensuring in advance that everything falls in place when they are no more there. Quite surprisingly, many of us fail to explore the other spectrum of this assumption. What if we survive beyond our expectations? Have we adequately considered the longevity risk?
