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28 July 2024
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The Government's broken promise on tax cuts has prompted speculation about other promises that it may consider breaking. It's widely believed that super is lightly taxed and a prime candidate for special attention.
Money withdrawn from super after age 60 is tax-free but less understood are arrangements that allows a couple over the age of 67 to earn up to $57,948 per year outside super and pay no tax with LITO and SAPTO.
Critical facts are overlooked on the new super tax and franking. The super tax is a progressive tax not a flat tax, we have many ways of taxing 'income', concessions are overstated and franking has a common value.
Younger people should have the option to draw on their super balance to buy a home. It is the height of hypocrisy to allow retirees to use super to reduce their mortgage but deny young people early access.
Additional investment in the family home to maximise the age pension becomes a straitjacket. To voluntarily plan this outcome comes at a high price in terms of reduced income and loss of discretion over your own affairs.
The system has incentives that run counter to policy objectives, especially for the age pension taper rate, family home and access to super before it's assessed for the age pension. Here's how to fix these problems.
Rising prices have a big impact on retirement outcomes yet our most common gauge of inflation – the consumer price index – misses several important household costs for retirees.
A self managed super fund can offer investors more control and, in many cases, greater choice over their retirement investments. But are the extra costs and admin burdens worth it?
Facing up to a terminal diagnosis can also lead to worries regarding financial stability. People in this situation could have a number of options regarding their super assets.
Australia faces a wave of retirees at a stage where the superannuation system is still maturing. Better and fairer policy on the role of the family home as a retirement asset might help.
The dominance of mega-cap stocks in the US has led to strong index performance and a new wave of passive investors. Australia's markets might not be so suited to this approach.
Global and Australian private credit are different and shouldn't be lumped together. Investors also need to be wary of more complex and lower quality securities as the asset class grows.
People are hard-wired to make poor financial decisions under conditions of uncertainty. A new research paper explores whether a strategy built to exploit these biases in financial markets could succeed.