Have you ever wondered how much superannuation you will have and need in retirement? The answer is it depends on a range of  factors, such as your lifestyle goals, whether you have paid off your mortgage, your financial situation, whether you live a relatively healthy lifestyle, your likely life expectancy, and so on.

How much will I spend in retirement?

According to the government’s MoneySmart website, the amount of money you will need when you retire depends on:

Your costs in retirement – for example, paying off your mortgage, rent, renovations, travel and medical costs, and
The lifestyle you want – for example, a modest versus a comfortable lifestyle (discussed below).

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Are you a small business owner or work in a profession where you are open to being sued? If so, have you thought about what might happen to your superannuation should your circumstances change and you become bankrupt?

The risk of bankruptcy

Self-employed people, company directors and ‘at risk’ professionals such as doctors, dentists, accountants, lawyers, etc are particularly vulnerable to lawsuits from disgruntled clients or former, aggrieved business partners. Should your small business fail or where litigation against you by one of these individuals is successful, there is a risk that you may become bankrupt.

Once bankrupt, your assets are accessible under bankruptcy laws to repay creditors unless your assets are considered ‘exempt divisible property’. […]

All SMSF trustees or directors must appoint an approved SMSF auditor to audit their fund every year. Not only is an annual audit mandatory but it must be conducted by an approved SMSF auditor who is registered with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

But who is an approved SMSF auditor and what do you need to consider when appointing one for your SMSF? […]

According to the ATO, the treatment of allowances is one of the most misunderstood areas of payroll. Whether it be misclassifying an amount as an allowance (when it’s actually a reimbursement) or applying the incorrect Payment Summary treatment, PAYG withholding, superannuation or payroll tax treatment, mistakes in this area are easy to make. […]

Thinking about using your SMSF to borrow to invest? SMSF borrowing has become a popular way of maximising retirement savings because it allows you to increase the amount available to invest within your SMSF.

SMSFs are generally not allowed to borrow money. However there are some limited exceptions including borrowing to invest under a specific type of borrowing arrangement called a ‘limited recourse borrowing arrangement’ (LRBA). […]

One of the key features of the recent federal budget handed down by the government was a proposal for extra deductions for employers for expenditure incurred in training their staff. Let’s take a closer look.

Proposal

Small businesses with an aggregated annual turnover of less than $50 million will be able to deduct an additional 20% of expenditure incurred on eligible training courses provided to employees. The 20% boost will apply to eligible expenditure incurred from 7:30pm (AEDT) on 29 March 2022 (Budget night) until 30 June 2024.

Of course, this measure is subject to the passage of legislation through Parliament, which may also be subject to the government winning the upcoming election. For its part, the opposition has not ruled out adopting this proposal should it form the next government. […]

Are you a small business owner selling your business or disposing of an active business asset? If so, did you know you might be able to disregard some or all of any capital gain by putting the proceeds into superannuation?

Lifetime CGT cap

If you are a small business owner and want to sell your business or dispose of an active asset, you may be eligible to disregard some or all of the capital gain resulting from the disposal under the small business CGT concessions. […]

Most businesses are familiar with how GST works. But here’s a few reminders to make sure you’re being compliant and maximising your GST claims.

GST is paid at each step in the supply chain. and Businesses charge GST in the price of goods, services or anything else they supply, subject to various exemptions. If an entity is registered for GST, it can in many instances claim input tax credits from the ATO for any GST included in the price paid for goods, services or anything else bought for the business. However, for GST registered enterprises, the liability to pay GST rests on the supplier of goods and services, not on the consumer. In other words, even if the business incorrectly does not include the GST in the price of goods and services supplied, it is still liable to pay it to the ATO. […]