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20 August 2025
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The $3 million super tax has many rethinking their super strategies, especially issues of wealth transfer on death. This reviews the taxes on super benefits and offers investment alternatives.
A person's criminal record can impact whether they can benefit under a will or remain as an executor, trustee or testamentary guardian. A lot depends on the nature of the crime.
Nominating beneficiaries with your super fund is the only way to direct your death benefits to the people you want to receive it. The steps you take will depend on your circumstances and who your intended beneficiaries are.
We’ve seen how the transfer of wealth can work well, with inherited wealth helping families grow and thrive for generations, as well as how things can go horribly wrong. Here are tips on how to get it right.
Even though SMSF trust deeds are often generic nowadays and almost always easy to change, they’re still vital. They’re definitely not all the same so it’s important that SMSF trustees know what they’ve got.
A binding death benefit nomination makes sense if you belong to an APRA super fund, yet how about if all of your super is in an SMSF? Here are the pros and cons of having such a nomination in your SMSF.
Superannuation is a valuable investment vehicle and deciding the intended recipient of these funds in the event of death is crucial. Yet there's a significant limitation: super benefits can't be allocated to charities.
If a super benefit is withdrawn by a member over 65 or a retiree for super purposes, there is no tax. If it is paid to independent children, tax is 17%. So how do death bed benefit withdrawals work in super?
Should you give your children their inheritance before you die? It's a thorny question asked more often as Baby Boomers in Australia grow older and die richer. Do they leave larger bequests or help buy the kids a home?
An actuary warns of the frustrations he experienced as executor of his brother's will, a role he expected to be straightforward. He knew super does not automatically form part of an estate but there are traps for all to learn.
Do what you want with your estate but there can be challenges in a court. Older people are vulnerable and they can tell people what they want to hear, but carers can also be successful over family beneficiaries.
Simpler tax arrangements for investments are a key benefit of separately managed accounts, where after-tax outcomes vary from other vehicles such as managed funds and direct equities.
Each generation believes its economic challenges were uniquely tough - but what does the data say? A closer look reveals a more nuanced, complex story behind the generational hardship debate.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers aims to tackle tax reform but faces challenges. Previous reviews struggled due to political sensitivities, highlighting the need for comprehensive and politically feasible change.
The Labor government is talking up tax reform to lift Australia’s ailing economic growth. Before any changes are made, it’s important to know who pays tax, who owns assets, and how much people have in their super for retirement.
This goes through the different options including shares, property and business ownership and declares a winner, as well as outlining the mindset needed to earn enough to never have to work again.
Everyone has a theory as to why housing in Australia is so expensive. There are a lot of different factors at play, from skewed migration patterns to banking trends and housing's status as a national obsession.
China's steel production, equivalent to building one Sydney Harbour Bridge every 10 minutes, has driven Australia's economic growth. With China's slowdown, what does this mean for Australia's economy and investments?