Noel Whittaker's Blog
By Noel Whittaker
I have often heard older people talk about the way the pension system used to be. According to their recollections, part of the income tax you paid was supposed to be hived off and credited to a separate fund, out of which you would receive a pension for life. Because it was all so vague, …
The continual movement of the goal posts may put you off contributing to super, but the fact remains that superannuation remains a major tool for anybody trying to build wealth. One of the best strategies is salary sacrifice whereby a pre-tax sum is contributed to super instead of being taken in hand. Suppose a person …
Many still don’t understand the implications of making the wrong estate planning choices, or even worse not having a will at all. The first thing to look out for is that certain assets do not pass to the beneficiary in terms of the will. These include assets held as joint tenants, insurance bonds where there …
A slight rise in the age pension rates, and some small changes to the deeming rates, mean that many pensioners will be slightly better off. Also some retirees who did not qualify for an age pension because they were over the asset test cut-off point may start to qualify because the cut-off points have increased …
Rising life expectancies mean more and more retirees are finding themselves asset rich and cash poor. One option is to downsize to a cheaper home, but if they are receiving a part age pension now, converting an exempt asset – the family home – to an assessable asset such as cash or shares could mean …