How to take charge of your nest egg

As more people approach retirement, self managed super funds (SMSFs) continue to generate a lot of interest. In fact, today almost 1.1 million Australians have invested more than $575 billion into SMSFs^[1] and while traditionally seen as a do-it-yourself (DIY) approach to super, there are ways to make it much easier. An alternative ‘supported’ service is fast rising in popularity, and could help understand and assist with the complexities that can often come with managing your own super fund.

Under a supported SMSF service, you can enjoy the best of both worlds: control and responsibility of your financial future, with the benefit of expert support and advice when you need it.

Trustees seeking support in their investment, administration, compliance and taxation decisions often find that a supported SMSF service provides peace of mind thanks to expert advice and implementation. For others, personal events and priorities have changed, leaving less time available for managing the complexities of an SMSF.

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Four reasons why you should consider moving to a supported SMSF service:

1. You may benefit from experience and informed quality advice in a world of uncertainty

As an investor, you can be caught out by changes in market sentiment and consequently suffer significant swings in your returns from one year to the next. This can be very unsettling as a self funded retiree relying on investment capital to provide for your daily living needs. Specialist investment advisors can help reduce these risks by highlighting investment diversification opportunities that are often too difficult for you to access as an individual investor. They can also provide you with proactive professional research and analysis that considers local and global economic conditions.

2. You’ll gain support to help manage your SMSF investment portfolio in the complex drawdown phase

In the drawdown phase, your SMSF will ideally pay you a regular income to cover general living expenses while also stretching your capital to match an increase in life expectancy. This requires a disciplined and systematic approach to managing your cash flow and investments. A team of SMSF specialists can monitor your capital to ensure that the right amounts are held in your preferred cash accounts and term deposits to meet those expenses while also balancing allocations to longer term domestic and international asset classes.

3. You’ll be educated and receive timely updates on ever changing rules and regulations

The current level of proposed and actual changes to tax, super, pension, estate planning case law precedents and SMSF-specific legislation is significant. Right now, the Federal Government is working through a total revamp of the super rules which could have substantial ramifications on your SMSF. Our team of advisors can provide you with guidance and briefings on current and future options and help you minimise the hassle of changes.

4. Your time is precious and should be spent wisely

Plans can change, so even if you have the time to successfully manage your SMSF, things like travel, grandchildren and personal health can change your priorities, and often quickly. By choosing a supported SMSF service you can focus your time more on what you want and need. Our team of SMSF specialists can do much of the legwork for you while still allowing you the all important control over final decisions. Making the change to a supported service because you want to – not because you have to – will give you time to build a relationship with your professional team and to educate them about your longer term investment plan so they can align their advice to your wishes.

If even just one or two of the above reasons strike a chord with you, it’s time to think about could your SMSF be working harder for you. It’s not something you need to do alone either; Dixon Advisory is a multi-award winning supported SMSF specialist and helps thousands of trustees like you to identify investment opportunities, manage compliance and taxation requirements, support decision making and assist you make more of life and retirement. Discover how Dixon Advisory may be able to support you in the management of your SMSF.

This article has been sponsored by Dixon Advisory & Superannuation Services Limited (ABN 54 103 071 665, AFSL 231143). This article may contain general financial advice and was prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any advice, you should consider whether the advice is appropriate to you. Seeking professional personal advice is always highly recommended. Any forward looking statements are based on current expectations at the time of writing. No assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to be correct. For more information, please visit the Dixon Advisory website

^[1] 1,075,267 Australians have invested $575,441 million in to SMSFs.  Data is accurate as at December 2015 and was extracted on 11 January 2016 by Australian Taxation Office, ‘Self-managed super fund statistical report – December 2015’, viewed 8 November 2016