Do you hold life or any other insurance in a retail scheme?

Do you hold life or any other insurance in a retail scheme?

 

If you have a small balance in a retail scheme that you utilise to maintain life or any other insurances, you will be contacted by the APRA regulated scheme, these are generally retail and industry super funds, between now and 30th June 2019 as the rules surrounding insurance cover are changing

 

Members are now required to opt in to maintain your insurance cover and under new rules if no new contributions or rollovers are made to the APRA fund within a 16-month period it will be deemed inactive and unless you provide direction your life insurance will lapse

 

Additionally, where the APRA regulated fund balance is below $6,000 and inactive your balance could be transferred to the ATO as lost super

 

EXAMPLES of APRA regulated retail schemes are:

Australian Super, HESTA, MLC, REST, HOSTPLUS, CBUS etc.

 

ACTION REQUIRED

You need to ensure that prior to 30th June 2019 you have made the appropriate election to your APRA regulated fund to maintain your insurance cover

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to call on 03 9787 5100 or email me at kimc@hibbert.com.au

 

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Superannuation after 1st July 2017

We are now having to adopt the new superannuation changes that came into effect on 1st July 2017

The following are the main changes that are currently impacting superfunds:

  • $1.6 million is the maximum individual member balance which can be in pension phase & any investment income earnt by the fund for members with balances over this limit will now be taxed at 15%
  • Transition to Retirement pensions no longer receive any tax exemption on the fund’s investment income
  • Contribution caps are reduced with some members who have a total member balance over $1.6M being ineligible to further contribute non concessional contributions

Contribution caps are as follows:

Concessional contribution cap is now $25,000 regardless of your age

Non concessional annual cap is $100,000 (3 year bring forward rule may apply in limited circumstances)

Members are still required to satisfy the work test if you are over 65

  • High income threshold on which an additional 15% tax is payable on your concessional contributions has been reduced to $250,000
  • Downsizer contributions can be made from 1st July 2018 and allows members who are over 65 and sell their main residence, if they had held it for at least 10 years, to contribute up to $300,000 per member (subject to specific rules)
  • Total Balance Account Reporting (TBAR) must be filed with the ATO to track the amount a member has in pension mode via super
  • First home saver scheme in now operational
  • 10% work test removed which will allow more flexibility to claim a personal tax deduction

Please call Kim Chapman on 03 9787 5100 to discuss any of the above

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Early release scams

Beware of scammers promoting early release schemes as they only want access to your super.

They often promote schemes where they will promise large investment returns and ask you to withdraw or transfer your SMSF funds. By agreeing to this you are giving them control over your cash and assets and they will transfer them to a false investment and disappear with a substantial amount in ‘fees’ or take the lot.

Early release of your superannuation funds is only legal in very limited circumstances and you should always seek advice prior to accessing your super as the procedure needs to be documented and signed by the trustees of the fund.

See the ASIC website for more information.

 

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