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26 April 2024
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Graeme Colley answers a reader’s question on making non-concessional contributions to super after the age of 65, including how the contributions caps work in different situations and how to make the most of them.
It's popular to argue that the contribution caps are severe limits to the amount placed in super. But a couple can put up to $1.5 million into super in the next few months, so make the caps work in your favour.
Contribution splitting allows a super member to split up to 85% of concessional contributions received in a financial year with their spouse, and there are times when this is a good strategy.
The main benefit of a Transition to Retirement (TTR) pension when under age 60 is not the cash flow from the pension, but income earned in the fund on the investments supporting the TTR pension is tax free.
Whether a reversionary or non-reversionary pension is better is not straightforward and depends on the circumstances of the case, but it's an important part of estate planning.
Technical but important - recent amendments allow the income on investments supporting a non-reversionary pension to continue as exempt current pension income after the death of the member.
How useful are the retirement savings and spending targets put out by various groups such as ASFA? Not very, and it's reducing the ability of ordinary retirees to fully understand their retirement income options.
The US market has pummelled Australia's over the past 16 years and for good reason: it has some incredible businesses. Australia does too, but if you want to enjoy US-type returns, you need to know where to look.
As long as the banks have no desire to pay up for term deposit funding - which looks likely for a while yet - investors will continue to pay a premium for the higher yielding, but riskier hybrid instrument.
The rise of the Magnificent Seven and their large weighting in US indices has led to debate about concentration risk in markets. Whatever your view, the crowding into these stocks poses several challenges for global investors.
Money can bolster our joy in real ways. However, if we relentlessly chase wealth at the expense of other facets of well-being, history and science both teach us that it will lead to a hollowing out of life.
The copper market is barrelling towards a significant deficit and price surge over the next few decades that investors should not discount when looking at the potential for artificial intelligence and renewable energy.
Global REITs have been out of favour for some time. While office remains a concern, the rest of the sector is in good shape and offers compelling value, with many REITs trading below underlying asset replacement costs.