For most Australians, retirement planning is a financial exercise. If you have done the ‘right’ things, contributed to your superannuation and accessed quality advice on managing your nest egg, then you’ve taken the first steps towards a successful retirement.

However, it is far too easy to think of retirement as a financial number you achieve and an extended holiday. This approach is fraught with danger and misses a crucial part of preparing for your new circumstances.

You should consider several key areas as you create your retirement life. 

1. Understand what kind of life you want

Far too many pre-retirees make the mistake of thinking that the financial and retirement plans are the same things – that the life part will take care of itself.

This stage of your life deserves a more holistic look, and plan to understand what you want your life to look like. What changes do you anticipate as you navigate retirement? How will you get the most out of each and every day?

These are important questions as you contemplate your move into this next phase of your life.

2. Mental & physical aging

Healthy aging is a major part of your retirement plans and lifestyle.

While the aging process is normal and affects us all in different ways, there are some things that we can all do to ensure that we “put time on our side” by looking after ourselves.

Most people think that being healthy physically is the key to healthy aging. In retirement, healthy mental aging is just as important (some say even more so). Keeping yourself mentally active each and every day will ensure you nourish your mind to maintain your mental health. Engaging in the many options available to keep you physically active will support your overall well-being by maintaining your mind, body and soul.

3. A positive definition of ‘work.’

Even when you leave the traditional workplace, you will still have a need to share your workplace strengths and skills. If you have a positive attitude towards the workplace, then the desire to have a retirement free from any kind of work becomes irrelevant.

Work doesn’t have to be full-time, it doesn’t have to be something you don’t like to do, and it doesn’t even have to be for pay! Many retirees use volunteering as a way to replace the things they miss most about their previous work.

The grey army is recognised for its value in today’s society and often fills the workforce gaps due to a skills shortage.

4. Family & personal relationships

Our close personal relationships define us, give us a purpose for living and encourage us to create life goals.

In retirement, our friendships and close relationships may offer us the validation that we may have received in the workplace. Researchers have found that people in satisfying personal relationships have fewer illnesses and higher levels of good overall health, adding to your retirement enjoyment and years of your life!

5. An active social network

As you get older, your social support network becomes increasingly important.

Successful retirees generally have robust social networks that provide them with friendship, fulfilling activities and life structure. As part of your retirement plan, consider the important connections you have created and what you can do to continue growing your social network.

6. A balanced approach to leisure

We all enjoy leisure time, but things change when leisure becomes the central focus of our day-to-day life. By its very nature, leisure loses its lustre when it is the norm in our life rather than a diversion.

In retirement, leisure activities often replace workplace functions to meet our basic needs. Successful retirees balance their leisure over many different activities and take the opportunity to do new things and not get into a rut.

When assisting clients through the transition to retirement, we encourage clients not only to consider the financial aspect of retirement and what lifestyle areas to explore for a fulfilling retirement. You can have all the money in the world. However, your retirement may not reach the heights you had hoped for without a plan to achieve it.

Speak to the JBS Financial team to discuss your plan for the life you want to live in retirement.

Jenny Brown – CEO

Family law disputes are usually complex, often difficult to manage and generally a costly process. These days families come in all shapes and sizes and at some stage in your life, you may require advice from a family law specialist. Financial agreements are a way of avoiding costly (and often stressful) family disputes.

“Pre-Nuptials” and Financial Agreements

Financial Agreements, also colloquially known as “prenups”, can be useful as a risk management tool for couples seeking to document how they will divide their property if they separate at a later time. It allows a private agreement to be formalised and precludes the later involvement of the Family Court. Having such an Agreement can therefore save a significant sum of money, including the costs associated with property settlement negotiations or litigation if the couple separate. It can be compared to income protection insurance or life insurance.

Financial Agreements can be particularly useful for:

1.    Mature couples with significant assets who have been previously married or been in a previous relationship and who are now entering into a new relationship. These couples may have children from previous relationships for whom they wish to protect their future inheritances;

2.    Young couples who are likely to be gifted or inherit significant wealth from their parents;

3.    Relationships where there are significant differences between what each party is bringing into the relationship.

There must be strict compliance with the legislation and there cannot be any form of duress applied towards a party to the Agreement. The parties must have provided each other with full disclosure of their financial circumstances. Each party to the Agreement must have obtained independent legal advice before signing the Agreement. People with complex business structures need to take particular care that they consider problems under any commercial contract with third parties. They also need to seek taxation advice as to any taxation implications. It is advisable for parties to review their overall financial planning or succession planning strategy when considering entering into a Financial Agreement.”

If you require family law advice or would like to set up a financial agreement contact JBS as we work with a number of family lawyers who would be happy to help.

By Jenny Brown – CEO and Founder

When we look at Estate Planning, the first thing that pops to mind is our Wills. After all, these legal documents dictate what will happen to our assets when we die. While this is a good start, you will more than likely have assets that are not covered by your Will and will need to be dealt with in a separate manner.

Jointly Owned Assets

There are 2 ways to structure jointly held assets and both are treated differently for estate purposes. The first and more common way is what is known as ‘Joint Tenants’. In this scenario, if you were to die, the asset automatically goes to the other owner. For example, a husband and wife purchase a house as joint tenants, if the husband were to die, the wife would now own the entire house. It does not form part of his Will.

The second ownership structure is what is known as ‘Tenants in Common’. In this scenario the 50% (or whatever % you own) is not automatically passed over to the other owners, it does form part of your Estate and will be distributed through your Will. For example, 2 business owners purchase a commercial building 50/50 as tenants in common. If one were to die, their 50% would go to their estate and as an example end up being owned by their partner. Now there may be an agreement in place where the surviving business owner then buys the other persons share from their partner, however the partner does now own the 50% rather unlike a ‘Joint Tenants’ situation where the surviving owner would automatically be allocated the other 50%.

Assets held by Private Companies or unit trusts

Sometimes a person has assets held by a company that he or she owns. The person may own all the shares in the company and might be the only director of the company, and in so doing is able to use and enjoy the assets. Whilst the person might own the company, it is the company that owns the assets. Thus for example the person cannot in their Will give away the company car because they don’t own the item. It is a common mistake by business proprietors that they forget that assets they use personally are not theirs but instead belong to the company.

The only asset that the Will maker has is the ownership of the shares in the company, not any specific assets of the company.

Units in a unit trust are similar to companies in that any units owned by you, not the assets owned by the trust, will pass to your estate to be distributed as per your Will.

Assets held in Family Trusts

Assets held in a Family Trust are governed by the determinations of the trustee of the trust and are not assets owned by the person who set up the trust and transferred assets to it. Such a person is unable in their Will to distribute the assets of what they might regard as “my trust”. Control of the trust post the death of the person might be capable of being governed by the Will, but the assets themselves are not the person’s to give away in the Will. In the event of the death of a trustee (where it is an individual trustee), the appointer will need to nominate a successor trustee.

Life insurance

When you set up a life insurance policy you may also nominate a beneficiary. Generally, the proceeds of a life policy are paid directly to the beneficiary, without any need to be included in a Will.

If you wish for your life insurance benefits to be controlled by the terms of your Will then you need to nominate your estate as the beneficiary of your policy. A lot of life insurance policies are owned by superannuation funds with the proceeds being paid into superannuation. This brings us to the next asset.

Superannuation

When dealing with superannuation assets you have the ability to nominate to the superannuation trustee to who the funds will be passed on. If no nomination is made then the superannuation trustee will distribute the funds according to their formula. It is therefore essential for you to make a nomination however most superannuation funds have two types of nominations available to you.

The first kind of nomination is a non-binding nomination. This is more of a suggestion to the superannuation fund of where you wish for your funds to be paid. The superannuation trustee is under no obligation to pay your super benefits as per your nomination and instead will try to contact all possible beneficiaries (spouses, kids, dependents etc) and for them to put forward their case on why they should receive any benefit.

The second kind of nomination is a binding nomination. This nomination instructs the superannuation trustee on where they need to pay the money. Note that this is an instruction and not a suggestion and the trustee is obligated to follow it. There are rules however on who can be nominated on a binding nomination as only ‘dependants’ (spouse, children, financial dependents) or your legal personal representative (your estate) can be nominated. Because of the absolute certainty of this nomination, a lot of binding nominations only last 3 years at which time they expire and will need to be renewed. There are some superannuation funds however that do offer non-lapsing binding nominations.

With both nomination types, once the trustee has made their decision it cannot be contested, unlike a Will. Therefore it is essential that it is set up correctly to ensure your funds are passed onto your preferred beneficiaries.

We often only think about our Wills when it comes to Estate Planning however when probably our 2 greatest assets, properties held jointly and our superannuation funds with any life insurance proceeds are not covered by our Wills we need to make sure the proper procedures are in place to ensure they are passed onto our preferred beneficiaries.

If you would like to talk to someone to ensure that your estate planning is adequate and in place to cover all of your assets, please reach out and discuss your situation with the JBS Financial team. 

It is a question that most of us will not have given much thought to who will receive our super benefits in the event that we pass away?

If you have particular wishes, simply writing a name or ticking a box may not be sufficient to realise your intended plans. In many cases, the absence of correct estate planning documentation will see decisions made by the trustees of your super fund on where the funds will be allocated, potentially following generic rules which may see an undesired outcome.

The following case is a general example:

A mother passed away, having been predeceased by her husband, and had previously signed a trustee minute that her benefits be paid to her three children, however not in equal amounts. She believed that her eldest two children were financially secure, having benefited from a previous inheritance decision when compared to the third child who she wished to receive the bulk of the benefit.

The trustees of her super fund did not agree that her wishes were legally valid since they believed that the correct procedures had not been followed, and decided to pay the super benefits out to her three children in equal amounts.

In the case of self-managed super funds, several court cases have provided an indication of the need for correct legal processes and forethought. The 2005 case of Katz vs Grossman saw a father intend to divide his $1 million SMSF balance equally between his son and daughter. Following the passing away of his wife several years previously, the father had appointed his daughter as a trustee of the fund alongside himself in order to remain compliant. On his death, the father’s intentions were not realised. The daughter appointed her husband as a replacement trustee for her father and, as trustees, decided to pay the balance of the fund to her. The son challenged this decision, however, the court determined that she was legally able to do so as a trustee without a valid binding death benefit nomination from the father.

In both cases, the original intentions of the members of the super funds were not carried out.

One possible option is to complete a Binding Death Benefit Nomination. This will bind the trustees of your super fund to pay out the benefits of your super to either your dependents or your estate in the amounts specified by you.

Careful consideration must be made to ensure that the nomination is compliant with the fund’s trust deed and has been completed correctly. An example of incorrect completion was the recent case of Munro vs Munro where the deceased had named the “trustee of the deceased estate” as the beneficiary, which did not comply with superannuation law – incidentally, the correct term should have been “legal personal representative” which would have also resulted in the estate receiving the benefit. As a result, the nomination was not deemed to be binding and, against the wishes of the deceased, the funds were not paid to the estate.

Other possible ways to direct your super benefits include non-binding death benefits, lifetime binding death benefits, reversionary pensions and wills.

Ensuring you receive the correct estate planning and legal advice is a vital part of ensuring your wishes are watertight. If you have any concerns regarding who you would like to receive your benefits please reach out and discuss your situation with the JBS Financial team.

Introduced as part of the 2017-2018 Federal Budget, the First Home Super Saver (FHSS) scheme aims to make housing more affordable for first home buyers. Essentially the FHSS scheme allows you to save money in your super fund that will go towards your first home.

If you are making either concessional or non-concessional contributions into your super fund, you will be able to apply to have your voluntary contributions, as well as associated earnings, released to help you purchase your first home. Since your concessional contributions are taxed at 15% as opposed to your marginal tax rate, the FHSS scheme can be an effective tool in helping you save for your first home.

When making a withdrawal from super to help purchase a home, you are able to withdraw total voluntary contributions of up to a maximum of $30,000 across all years, with a maximum of $15,000 from any one financial year. The contributions are ordered by a first-in first-out approach. For example, Joe has made $10,000 of eligible non-concessional contributions each of the past 3 financial years. He finds a house he would like to buy. He can withdraw a total of $30,000 to purchase the house as each year he has stayed within the maximum of $15,000 per year. If Joe had made eligible non-concessional contributions of $20,000 and $10,000 in the past 2 financial years, he would be limited to only withdrawing $25,000 (maximum of $15,000 from the first year and $10,000 from the second year).

Once your first FHSS amount has been released to you, within 12 months you must do one of the following:

– Sign a contract to purchase or construct your home – you must notify the ATO within 28 days of signing the contract
– Re-contribute the assessable FHSS amount (less tax withheld) into your super fund and notify the ATO within 12 months of the first FHSS amount being released to you.

There is a strict set of criteria you must satisfy in order to be eligible for the FHSS:

– You must be at least 18 years old when you request a release from your super account
– You must never have owned property in Australia (this includes investment property, vacant land, commercial property, a lease of land in Australia or a company title interest in land in Australia).
– You must not have previously requested the Commissioner of Taxation in Australia to issue a FHSS release authority in relation to the scheme.

You may be eligible for the FHSS even if you do not satisfy the above conditions. More details of this can be found here.

There is also criteria on what you cannot purchase through the FHSS and these include:

– Any premises not capable of being occupied as a residence
– A houseboat
– A motorhome
– Vacant Land

One thing to note is that just because it can be done, doesn’t mean that every super fund offers it so if you believe you are eligible and would like to explore it further, it would be worthwhile contacting JBS.

At the start of every new year, many people set new goals for themselves however not everyone is successful. Many of us identify what we want to achieve, however we don’t think about and plan how to achieve it. It’s proven that people who develop action plans can experience less anxiety, increased confidence, improved concentration, greater satisfaction about achieving their goals and are more likely to succeed.

We can often also have goals wandering around in our mind that we end up forgetting so “ink it, don’t think it”. By writing down your dream or goal, you make a conscious commitment that this is what you want to achieve. Once you have made this commitment, put it in places that can easily be seen. Put it on your home screen of your phone, tablet or computer, your bathroom mirror, in your gym bag or on your kitchen fridge. These reminders and a positive mindset will help you stay motivated for achieving your goals.

One of the most exciting things that JBS are fortunate enough to do is celebrate with our clients who achieve their financial goals and are living out their dreams. Contact the team at JBS to book an appointment so we can help you achieve your financial goals.

The holidays are great time for families and friends to get together to enjoy the warmer weather and sunshine together. However, this time of year is also when spending can go a little overboard and people end up with an overwhelming credit card debt.

Below are a few ways to get yourself back on track this New Year:

Sell, Sell, Sell
Selling items you no longer use is an easy start. You can make a dent in the amount you overspent during the holidays and you can also make a jump on decluttering your house. Try to sell in local areas to reduce the cost of shipping items. By grouping items together such as 10 x books or bag of kids clothing size XX for a set price reduces the time you spend advertising items and increases the chance of a quick sale.

Eliminate non-essential items
Small inexpensive items add up over the month. If you don’t purchase that morning coffee or afternoon soft drink you could potentially save yourself between $150-200 a month. Consider cheaper alternatives like taking your coffee with you in the morning and making your lunch the night before.

Stop Shopping
This time of year can be tempting to purchase in the post-holiday sales, but if you are already in debt you cannot afford the items no matter how good the deals are. Unsubscribing from e-newsletters offering sale items is a great place to start, if you don’t see the deals you can’t buy them. Ensure you don’t do your grocery shop when you are hungry and take a shopping list so you don’t impulse buy.

Make this year’s financial hangover the last, contact JBS today and we can help you give your finances that bright New Year feeling.

I often get asked why I love being a financial adviser – well the answer is simple, I get to help our clients every day of the year. Along with my awesome team we are able to make such a difference in the lives of our clients whether it be when we get to help them retire, hold their hands when something goes wrong in their lives or be at the end of the phone when the markets get the wobbles.

Being an adviser comes with a huge amount of responsibility, that we often take for  granted and it’s not until we are able to sit back and reflect on all the good that we do that we often realise just how much of a difference we can and do make in our client’s lives. Take today, let me tell you about three clients, their stories and how it all unfolded, firstly let me introduce you John* and Sue*, they are both 70 and fairly typical retiree clients. They have combined investible assets of $850,000 and are receiving overseas pension income of $17,000. Their living expenses are around $60,000 including some low-cost holidays and they don’t qualify for any Centrelink at this point.

Their worry is how long will their money last, can they keep taking annual holidays, travel more than once a year, or do they need to cut back, especially with the current volatility that we are experiencing in the market. Now this is not an uncommon question and whenever we catch up with our clients to discuss their strategies, this question if it’s not asked, it’s certainly on their minds.

By anticipating their needs through experience, we had already projected out what continuing to receive a total retirement income of $60,000 would do for their retirement plans. In addition, we had prepared 2 other projections at $70,000 and $80,000 to highlight just how long on conservative projections their funds would last. Now the portfolio that John and Sue have within their fund is nothing sexy, more a very stable mix of quality blue chip Australian Shares, some international and local ETF’s, term deposits and some bank hybrids. Diversified enough that volatility is reduced and a portfolio that reflects their risk profile along with two to three years of cash plus dividends and income to fund pensions and ensure that in a downturn they wouldn’t have to sell any of their growth assets.

Our reward was to then experience the delight that they wouldn’t run out of money until they were hitting 100 years of age and that was on the projection for higher drawings. Turning a conversation around from how long will my money last, to what places we’d love to travel to and what would we love to tick off our bucket list just makes our day.

To keep reading this article click here

– Jenny Brown –

*The names of clients have been changed to protect their privacy.

In previous articles, we have written about the importance of ensuring that your biggest asset – your earnings capacity is protected.

A question we often get however is how do I know if what I have is ok?

There are many Income Protection policies on offer with many options but one of the biggest differences you need to understand what happens in the event of a claim with an Agreed Value Policy compared with an Indemnity Policy. The wrong option can have catastrophic consequences to your financial position when you need the cover the most.

In order to make the right choice, you must first understand the differences between these two options.

An Agreed Value Policy is signed off at the start, i.e. what level of income they’re willing to cover. It provides you with certainty at the time of insurance application, the amount that you have been insured for will be paid, if you need it.

Whereas with an Indemnity Policy, the benefit amount is estimated at the start but not financially assessed until the time of claim.

In both instances, you generally are able to insure up to 75% of your income, but the difference in the event of claim can be significant.

So which one is advantageous for you?

Indemnity Value Policies are usually cheaper when compared to Agreed Value. However, there is no certainty on the monthly benefits received upon the claim. Although Agreed Value income protection might be a little more expensive, it holds more value as it provides you with certainty on the benefit amount you will receive.

Indemnity value covers are suitable for people with a steady income over the years. However, it is quite common for things to change which may lead to the decline (sometimes only short term) of your income.

Possible reasons for a decline in income (which would impact on an indemnity claim but not an agreed value claim):

– You may be in a stable employment now but have you ever dreamt about starting your own business? Clearly, the goal would be to return to a similar or high income but this move can often lead to a short-term income drop and provide an exposure.

– You may wish to change your career entirely. This could involve further study and again a reduced income for a period of time.

– Your current industry or expertise may be subject to disruption which could affect your earning capacity or require further study.

– You may wish to reduce your working hours or start a family.

– You may have your hand forced and need to give up your career or dramatically alter your hours if a family member becomes very ill.

Unfortunately, one of the most tragic situations we have seen was with a middle-aged man who overtime had his work hours, job performance and income gradually get affected as a result of a debilitating mental health illness. The illness caused him to have to reduce his hours and responsibility and even take periods of unpaid leave. Rather than going on a claim in the initial stages, he struggled through perhaps in denial. The gradual decline in health eventually resulted in a claim; however, the claim was reduced as his pre-disablement income was actually lower than what it was when he took the policy out. Had he taken out an Agreed Value Policy, he would have been entitled to a higher level of income which would have provided much more financial support to him and his family and would have allowed him to focus on his recovery.

For anyone who has default Income Protection cover through work or a Superannuation provider, it is critical to understand these differences as often default insurance is on an Indemnity Policy basis.

It is also important to understand that the older we get the more “uninsurable we become” so locking in a good policy now while you are young and healthy can make a significant difference when you need the policy the most.

At JBS we help people assess their need for cover every day. We provide clients with piece of mind which allows them to get on with their lives in comfort knowing that they are covered. Please contact us so that we can provide you with the same level of comfort.

From the 1st of July 2018, if you are at least 65 years old and meet the eligibility requirements, you may be able to choose to make a downsizer contribution into your Superannuation fund of up to $300,000 from the proceeds of selling your home. Normally after age 65 you would need to meet a work test in order to contribute into Super, the great thing about this is that you don’t need to meet the work test to be eligible.

The contribution will not be counted as a Non-Concessional Contribution and will not count towards any contributions caps. The downsizer contribution can still be made even if you have a total super balance greater than $1.6 million, however if your balance is above $1.6 million you are still restricted to having $1.6 million in the pension phase.

The contribution is only able to be made once on the sale of one home, therefore if you sell a second home you can’t make the contribution again. There is also no requirement that you have to purchase another home or actually downsize your home as the name may suggest. In order to be eligible you must tick all of the following criteria:

– You are 65 years old or older at the time you make a downsizer contribution (there is no maximum age limit)

– The amount you are contributing is from the proceeds of selling your home where the contract of sale exchanged on or after 1st of July 2018

– Your home was owned by you or your spouse for 10 years or more prior to the sale. The ownership period is generally calculated from the date of settlement of purchase to the date of settlement of sale

– Your home is in Australia and is not a caravan, houseboat or other mobile home

– The proceeds (capital gain or loss) from the sale of the home are either exempt or partially exempt from capital gains tax (CGT) under the main residence exemption, or would be entitled to such an exemption if the home was a CGT rather than a pre-CGT asset (acquired before 20th of September 1985)

– You have provided your super fund with the Downsizer contribution into super form either before or at the time of making your downsizer contribution

– You make your downsizer contribution within 90 days of receiving the proceeds of sale, which is usually at the date of settlement

– You have not previously made a downsizer contribution to your super from the sale of another home.

It is important to note that if your home was owned by just the one spouse, the spouse that did not have an ownership interest may also make a downsizer contribution, provided they meet all of the other requirements.

The maximum contribution you can make under the downsizer rules is $300,000, or $300,000 each if a member of a couple. However, the contribution can’t be greater than the total proceeds of the sale of your home. For example if you and your partner sell your home for $400,000 you’re only eligible to make contributions of $200,000 each, or it can be split in another way such as $300,000 and $100,000.

You must also make your downsizer contribution within 90 days of receiving the proceeds of sale, which is usually at the date of settlement. In some circumstances the ATO may at their discretion extend this 90 day period, but you will need to apply for it. It is also possible to make the contributions in multiple batches, but the total amount can’t exceed $300,000, and all contributions must be made within the 90 day period.

If you’re thinking of downsizing your home and wish to explore your options in relation to making downsizer contributions, please don’t hesitate to contact JBS and we can assess your options and eligibility. It is a really great opportunity to help build your wealth in a tax effective manner.