Published

in

the

Australian

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Advice

crucial

for

super

maze

I wrote an article which was published in the weekend edition of The Australian newspaper on different superannuation options. Self managed super funds now represent the biggest segment in the superannuation industry holding more money than retail and industry funds. The attraction for many of my Sydney Financial Planning clients has been the ability to take more control over their investment decisions along with a decrease in superannuation fees.

We assist clients on a regular basis transition their super from their default fund to a self managed super fund and in our experience, the main reason in addition to a decrease in fee, has been the specific desire to purchase investment property. The ability to purchase investment property is only available within a self managed super fund.

One tip - for property purchased inside of super, all property costs should be met from the cash account of the SMSF. A common mistake I see if my financial planning clients paying for things like building and pest reports using their own money. Anything to do with the purchase of the property should be paid directly from the SMSF. If personal money is used to pay for things like property reports or legal fees, the money is usually not refundable and treated as a superannuation contribution!