Super News

CPA Australia has announced a completely independent subsidiary for providing Australian consumers independent financial advice. Expected expiration of the accountant’s exemption has prompted this decision, feel industry sources. CPA Australia is likely to take both licenses, the Australian Credit License and the Australian Financial Service License.

An article on the Financial Review talks about the SMSF investors’ growing penchant for commercial properties. For the uninitiated, residential and commercial properties are treated quite differently in the SMSF world. SMSF owners are either purchasing their own office or utilizing expert knowledge to buy a different one.

In an article for the website SMSF Adviser, Miranda Brownlee reports that SMSF assets comprise of nearly 50% of all the assets held in the exchange-traded funds. And because the SMSF sector finds itself doing really well, the ETF sector has piggybacked on its success to reach $18.6 billion. Here is a statistic to put things in perspective- only in the month of May, the industry has grown by $900 million.

What motivates the Australians to get into the SMSF game? Commonwealth Bank says it is the facility of having greater control over one’s investments that draws people towards SMSF. An article on the website of SkyNews reports on the matter. Managing SMSF can get a little difficult at times and Commonwealth Bank claims to have a solution aimed at ensuring smooth functioning of the SMSF.

An article on SMSF Adviser illustrates a few takeaways from the Federal Budget. One of the graphs talks about the tininess of tax concessions and the overriding significance of accumulated earnings. The Federal government has abstained from making any changes in the Superannuation tax structure and has waited for the outcome of the White Papers review to make any alteration. Above anything, it shows that the government is keen on a measured approach and does not want to act in haste and repent in leisure.

In an article for the Business Day section of the Sydney Morning Herald, Nassim Khadem talks about the tax incentives that the Abbott Government has so generously offered to the rich retirees. Khadem also examines the possible consequences of the move and the way it may hurt the treasury. There is not a sizeable difference in the number of funds claiming tax breaks. What has changed instead is the amount of tax break being claimed by each and this is likely to hit government revenue where it hurts.