Self managed super
Self-managedsuper, fortherightreasons.
Braeside, Victoria
A self-managed superannuation fund gives you control over decisions that pooled super doesn't let you make. In exchange, it asks you to take on responsibilities that pooled super carries on your behalf. Whether the trade is worth making is the first question. Most other questions about an SMSF depend on the answer to it.
If you are considering setting one up, we will tell you whether the standard reasons apply to your situation. If you are already running one, we will tell you what we would change about the structure or strategy. Either way, the assessment is the work; the structure is the consequence.
What an SMSF actually is
An SMSF is a trade. Control in exchange for obligations.
Most people setting up a fund don't fully appreciate what is on each side of the trade until well into running one. Here is what each side actually contains.
What it gives you
Direct investment control
You decide what the fund holds: which managers, which direct shares, which bonds, which property. Pooled super does not let you make those calls. If genuine investment choice is your reason for considering SMSF, the structure exists to enable it.
Direct property in super
An SMSF can hold individual property in a way almost no pooled super fund can. If property inside super is part of your plan, this is the structure that makes it possible. Most other reasons for choosing SMSF can be solved another way.
Multi-generational structure
Up to six members. Spouses and adult children can be in the same fund. That carries flexibility around contributions, pension phase, and estate that is harder to arrange across separate pooled funds.
Pension-phase control
More granular control over how the fund moves into pension phase, how income is drawn, and how assets are segregated. The pension-phase decisions in an SMSF are finer-grained than the equivalents in pooled super.
What it asks back
Trustee duties, by you
As a member, you are also a trustee. You sign meeting minutes, you document the investment strategy in writing, you review it annually, and you act in the fund's best interests. None of those duties can be delegated to an adviser, accountant or auditor. They remain yours for the life of the fund.
An independent annual audit
Every SMSF must be audited each year by a registered SMSF auditor independent of the accountant. The audit is required by regulation, regardless of the fund's complexity or size. The cost is in the low thousands per year for a typical fund.
Annual tax return and strategy review
The fund files its own tax return. Its investment strategy is documented in writing and revisited each year. Most clients use an SMSF-experienced accountant for the tax side. The strategy review and the trustee minutes that record decisions sit with you, with adviser support.
Keeping up with rules that change
Contribution caps move. Pension rules shift. Reporting requirements evolve. The fund is responsible for being compliant regardless. A structure that worked under last year's rules can be quietly exposed by this year's. Someone has to be watching, and that someone is the trustees.
Whether it fits you
Five things determine whether an SMSF fits your situation.
Balance is the easiest one to measure. The other four matter more than balance does, and trip up more funds than the cost case ever does: motivation, how you want to be involved, comfort with trustee duties, and your accountant relationship. Five questions, two minutes.
General suitability indicator only. Not personal financial advice. The result describes how your inputs map to common SMSF considerations; the recommendation that applies to your situation is determined through advice. SMSF rules and contribution caps change; this indicator does not account for changes that may apply by the time you read it.
An SMSF run badly is the most expensive structure in Australian super. An SMSF run well, by the right person, in the right circumstances, is one of the best.
Get in touch
Bring us your situation. We will tell you whether SMSF fits.
The introductory conversation includes a candid assessment of whether SMSF makes sense in your circumstances. If you are already running a fund, we will tell you what we would change about the structure or the strategy. If you are considering setting one up, we will tell you whether the standard reasons for choosing SMSF apply to you, or whether a pooled alternative would serve you better.
tim@secureportwealth.com- By telephone
- In person at Braeside
- Travel by arrangement
