How to 2020-proof your finances Being in control of your finances makes you feel good, but the twists and turns of 2020 have meant this isn’t always possible. We look at some of the year’s top challenges for personal finance and how to manage them as we move into 2021. Mental, physical and financial wellbeing are interconnected – and in 2020, we’re feeling it more than ever. Research conducted by AMP has found that severe …
How to save for retirement at every age No matter how old you are or where you’re at with your financial goals, it’s important to plan for your retirement. The average Australian now lives to 82.8 years, making retirement a life stage that can continue for two decades or longer. So while this milestone may seem like a lifetime away now, it’s never too early or late to start planning for retirement. Our decade-by-decade guide …
Is $1m enough to retire? A million dollars is a figure that’s often cited as the amount you need to retire. But while $1 million doesn’t go as far as it used to – it only goes slightly above the median house price in Sydney1 – for many people it still sounds like an impossibly large amount of money to save. In reality, there’s no set figure you need to have accumulated in savings, super, real …
How financial advice can help Even if a person has a small asset base and no funds to invest, the help and guidance of a financial adviser can be valuable. Accumulating wealth is a long-term process. It usually occurs parallel to a person’s professional, private and family life. A good approach can be to have a few key strategies in place so that wealth can grow through life’s journey. It’s perhaps more common to seek financial …
How can I make my retirement dream a reality? What does your retirement dream look like – spending time on your hobbies? Seeing the grandkids more often? Maybe pursuing a passion, or travelling? According to AMP financial adviser John Dani, the people who are most content and happy in retirement all have this one thing in common – a well-defined purpose for their golden years. Mr Dani’s worked with hundreds of people over the last …
Many Aussies in the dark about retirement Whether retirement is a long way into the distance, or just peeking over the horizon, recent research1 shows half of us aren’t sure we’ll have enough money to retire when we want, or even how much money we’ll actually need. There’s always been a lot of unknowns when it comes to retirement but throw a global pandemic into the mix, and we’re feeling more uncertainty than ever before. Things …
The laws to protecting your retirement savings Around 40% of working Australians claim they don’t have life insurance1. Yet, with 13.5 million insurance policies inside super2, it’s likely many people may have life insurance without knowing it3. The bigger picture There’s a good chance, at some point in your career, you joined your employer’s default super plan – this is the plan your employer pays super into if you don’t nominate your own. Perhaps it …
COVID-19: How long may your super savings take to recover? As investment market volatility continues, what does this mean for Australians’ retirement savings? The COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis has caused uncertainty in many areas of life, not least on investment markets. Share prices have been fluctuating wildly as investors react to unfolding global events. From its high point in March the Australian All Ordinaries Index shed more than a third of its value before recovering some …
Common tax mistakes for SMSFs with rental properties In our recent article we covered tax relief concessions that could be considered where SMSF trustees have agreed to rent reductions for their tenants. Any reduction is decided on a case-by-case basis and the positions of the landlord and tenant. Whether the property is rented on a long-term or short-term basis, there are some simple lessons to be remembered to ensure the fund complies with the rules. …
Changes to super contribution rules for over 65s The Federal Government has updated superannuation laws to allow older Australians to contribute to their super for longer. Work test to apply from age 67 The government has increased the age up to which super contributions can be made without having to meet a work test from 65 to 67. The work test requires you to be in paid work for a minimum of 40 hours in …
