Retirement

05/09/13: Need more time?

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Invest smarter and save time...

Ask any of your friends what they wish they had more of in life and perhaps a few might say a faster car or bigger house - but what most people are really looking for is more time.

Investing your hard earned money in a smarter, more efficient manner not only allows you to spend more time focussing on a smaller selection of investments, it also allows you to spend more time on other, more important matters beyond the process of investing, like your health, your family, your friendships or your business.

Your Financial Planner is the same. By investing your superannuation or pension fund more efficiently, they'll have more time to help you achieve your goals, improve your retirement outcome, reduce your tax, protect your estate, and just generally help to control the controllable.

At Westmount, we believe that markets work, 'asset allocation' drives performance more than anything else and costs really do matter. In other words, it is infinitely possible to construct an effective investment portfolio (superannuation or otherwise) in a way that doesn't require constant monitoring, regular tinkering and an enormous fee to pull it all together. This has some obvious benefits for clients - lower costs, less stress, simplification and, yes, more time.

So if you believe that your life is a little more complicated than it should be, particularly in the area of investing or superannuation, don't just shrug your shoulders and accept the way things are. Instead, ask yourself, what else could I be doing with my precious time? And then call us to change the script for good. Read all about 'indexing' here  Rick Maggi (Westmount. Financial Solutions.)

01/09/13: The US fiscal cliff, debt ceiling and economic outlook.

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Oliver's Insights for January 2013

This note looks at the deal to avert the US fiscal cliff along with its debt ceiling and broader economic outlook. Generally pretty positive for 2013 (easy reading). Enjoy! Rick Maggi. Read here

22/08/13: Franking Credits 101

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What are Franking Credits?

With the Coalition's plan to impose a 1.5% levy on the top 3200 companies in Australia to help pay for their six-month paid parental leave proposal, we've had a few questions about franking credits and how the proposal might impact investors and retirees. While the full details are yet to be announced, based on the current rumours, the actual impact on franked dividends would be fairly minimal - much ado about nothing. The following is a back to basics explanation of franking credits for the uninitiated…  What are Franking Credits?

05/08/13: Consistency over the long term

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Australian and international equities. Which sector performed the best?

Picking the market sector that will outperform and timing it to maximise returns is a difficult thing to do. Produced by Vanguard Australia, the following tables graphically illustrate the performance of different sectors (within the Australian share market) and the performance of different regions (international shares).

The take away is simple one. Building a portfolio within broadly diversified equity funds at the core can help lower risk and smooth out peaks and troughs in returns over time.  Rick Maggi

Australian Equities      International Equities

08/08/13: The Federal Election

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Implication for investors...

In this article AMP Capital's Dr Shane Oliver takes a look at potential implications for investors as move towards and beyond the Federal Election. Interesting reading. Rick Maggi.  The Federal Election

26/07/13: The Vanguard Index Chart 2012-13 (Westmount Clients Only)

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Some eye candy...

Every year Vanguard releases it's 'Vanguard Index Chart' and it's always worth a look. The chart illustrates what the value of $10,000 invested twenty years ago might be worth today had you invested in various sectors such as Australian shares, commercial property, cash etc. Along the twenty-year journey you see the impact of important events (both positive and negative) such as 9/11, US subprime and the Japanese Tsunami on markets and the value of the original investment. Vanguard also includes a second graph, called 'the power of diversification' which shows the performance of each sector in percentage terms, every year, for the last twenty years.

Seeing visual proof of market volatility (all of them), each having their day in the sun, followed by less than happy times, serves as a potent reminder of the importance of diversification and patience. We can all do with some gentle encouragement, especially during tougher, challenging times, so I like to keep this chart on my wall!  Rick Maggi.    View charts here

26/07/13: New normal, old story

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'Outside the Flags' by Dimensional VP, Jim Parker

"Low returns are shaping as the new normal" That was the headline in The Australian Financial Review in early July 2012 in anticipation of another grim year on global equity markets for Australian investors. How did that forecast turn out?  Rick Maggi  Read more here

25/07/13: Investment outlook after a strong financial year

Dr Shane Oliver...

The last financial year saw returns of over 20% from Australian and global shares, so what's in store for 2013/14? Rick Maggi   Read more here

22/07/13: SMSFs: Where the ATO is looking

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How does your SMSF fund measure up?

The tax office - in its role as regulator of self-managed super - stripped 132 SMSFs in 2012-13 of their prized complying status for committing serious breaches of superannuation law. This is the toughest action that the ATO can take against a wayward SMSF. And it typically affects the savings of all the fund's members.

The market value of SMSFs declared non-complying is taxed at the top marginal rate, less any non-concessional (after-tax or undeducted) contributions. This could remove almost half a fund's assets.

And the ATO prevented 180 proposed new funds from entering the system. (As part of its compliance work, the tax office examines whether a fund has been established for "genuine" superannuation purposes. Sometimes funds are setup as means to extract savings from the super system before the members are legally entitled to the money.)

The ATO's Compliance in focus 2013-14 publication - released over the past week - reveals how the regulator will scrutinise the activities of SMSFs over the coming 12 months.

The annual compliance program can serve not only as a warning of where the tax office is looking but as a reminder of areas where your self-managed fund could possible improve.

During 2013-14, the ATO intends to particularly focus its SMSF attention on:

1) Prohibited loans. (SMSFs are prohibited from making loans to fund members and their relatives or providing other financial assistance to them.)

2) Funds with a history of non-compliance, including failure to lodge annual returns on time. The ATO is also keeping an extremely close watch on the compliance of new SMSFs.

3) Incorrect reporting of tax-exempt pension income. (The tax-exempt treatment of pension assets is a valuable tax break that some SMSFs incorrectly claim.)

4) Tax losses. (The ATO wants to ensure that funds are correctly calculating any claimed losses.)

5) Related-party transactions. (Generally, an SMSF is barred under the in-house asset rules in superannuation law from leasing or having investments with related parties involving assets that are worth more than 5 per cent of a fund's total market value. Business property is among the few exceptions to the rule.)

6) Non-arm's length transactions. (Self-managed funds are required to invest on a commercial, arm's length basis, including transactions involving related parties.)

How does your fund measure up in regard to these areas of ATO focus?  Rick Maggi.

02/07/13: Happy New Year!

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New Financial Year. Fresh Start.

Want to be kept informed in real-time? Tired of stale, irrelevant websites and blogs? Subscribe to our free updates here.  Happy New Year!  Rick Maggi & Staff.

27/06/12: Super Tip #8: Government co-contribution

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Get your cash reward...

As we're now approaching June 30th, its important to do some planning to maximise your strategy. This is a summary of the Government's 'co-contribution' scheme, which was spared in the recent May Federal Budget.  Rick Maggi  Read more here

24/06/13: The Fed, Interest Rates and Bonds

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Market Update...

Recent market falls and noise around the US Federal Reserve's potential moves going forward has been rattling investors. The following is a candid and easy to understand article on the subject from AMP Capital's Dr Shane Oliver. Rick Maggi.   Read more here