Financial Planning News
What you need to know about Reverse Mortgages and No Negative Equity Guarantees
A reverse mortgage is currently the most common equity release product in Australia for retirees. With a reverse mortgage, you use the equity in your home as security to borrow money. This has become an increasingly popular trend since the global financial crisis, as retirees seek to supplement their incomes due to a drop in returns from share investments. With reverse mortgages you can take the loan as a lump sum, in a regular income stream, as a line of credit, or as a combination of these options. The amount you can borrow is also linked to your age (that is, the older you are, the more you can borrow).
Have you considered managing your own superannuation?
Since the Global Financial crisis, many people are becoming more and more concerned with the performance of their superannuation fund. As a direct result of this concern many people are considering taking more control over the trusteeship and the management of their superannuation and establishing a Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF.)
5 Smart Investment Options
Everyone wants to have a secure financial future, whether it is for your retirement, a back up plan or simply to get to that next stage in life. Regardless of why you are saving and investing your money, it is a good feeling to know you have funds should you ever require them. Below are five smart investment strategies that you can implement into your financial plans to potentially secure your future and grow your wealth.
Getting Ready for Growth
Many businesses do not plan for growth, but just take challenges as they come. Without planning, your business may encounter difficulties or lose sight of its goals. Growth can come from a range of sources including a widened product range, an expanded capacity to serve more customers, or entering new markets. Each source of growth comes with different benefits as well as different time and monetary costs.
Is your superannuation on track?
Retirement is the time of life where you have the freedom to do what you want. Planning is essential if you want to have a comfortable and stress free retirement. Think about the lifestyle you want when you retire. Will you mix work and leisure? Do you have plans to travel? Where do you want to live? How is your health? All these things will affect the amount of money you need when you retire. The earlier you start preparing for this phase of your life, the better. Here are some steps you can take to get ready for retirement.
CGT basics for property investors
Perhaps one of the most significant considerations when it comes to investment properties is Capital Gains Tax (CGT). Whilst this is something that only comes into effect on disposal of the asset, it is important to be aware of how it works and the potential effects on your earnings. While investing in property can be an exciting and rewarding experience, it is not something to be undertaken without adequate research and preparation.
Using losses on overseas investment income against Australian income
Any loss you incur from a negatively geared overseas property can be applied against your Australian domestic income. Negative gearing refers to borrowing money to invest where the return from the investment is less than the borrowing costs. For example, the rental income from your investment property is less than the interest payments on the loan used to purchase the property. If you own an overseas property, you are able to claim your negative gearing losses on that property against your Australian-sourced assessable income.
Planning for Business Growth
Growth happens differently in every business and you should prepare well before entering into a significant growth phase by considering the impacts that growth can have. How and when you want to grow your business should form part of your overall business strategy. Working hard to generate positive word of mouth, brand awareness and maintaining an excellent business reputation is essential in opening up opportunities for growth.
The Importance of Setting Goals for Your Business
Whether expressed explicitly or not, most small business owners and managers have goals for the business they would like to achieve. It’s important to clearly state the goals that you have so that you possess a precise view of the short-term and long-term aims of the business, and can ensure that you are working towards them rather than just looking after the day-to-day needs of the business. Setting goals can also help with the process of determining what needs to be done to improve the business and should always be:
Who will get your death benefits: beneficiaries or the tax office?
A death benefit from a super fund is a payment a beneficiary receives because of the death of another person who was a member of that fund. A death benefit is typically paid from a super fund, retirement savings account provider, an approved deposit fund, or a super annuity provider. Generally this death benefit will have been bequeathed to the designated person; since understandably, most people try to ensure their death benefits go to the correct person of their choice. Not to mention their wish for their estate not to be liable for excess tax and reduce the amount bequeathed to loved ones.
