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Setting up an SMSF

Announcement posted by Future Assist SMSF 18 Nov 2013

Self-managed super funds are Australia's fastest growing superannuation fund type.

Self Managed Superannuation Funds aka SMSF is a trust which is mostly suitable for people who possess broad skills in financial matters. Money and investments held in a Self Managed Superannuation Fund are managed on behalf of the members during the process of maintaining an SMSF. The purpose of setting up a Self Managed Superannuation Fund is to provide a suitable platform for members on retirement or in case of a death. Tracking your super investments often and being prepared to research your super investments are required in order to maintain an SMSF. Maintaining an SMSF should not be an easy task considering its nature. The following paragraph will give you an idea on whether an SMSF is suitable for the needs of your life.

Consideration of the skill, time and knowledge you possess is an important aspect in the process of setting up an SMSF. In addition to that, understanding the procedure of fund management along with the meaning of being a trustee is important at the time you make your decision. You also need to have an idea of the comparison between the benefits of maintaining an SMSF and the benefits offered by other retirement saving plans. If you know your limits and skills, this is for you.

Setting up an SMSF correctly is necessary for a rich outcome as there are many benefits of running a correctly set up SMSF. You get the chance to protect the retirement savings and to avoid the penalties if you set up an SMSF correctly. The other important benefits of setting up an SMSF correctly are the chances of getting qualified for tax concessions while being able to easily administrate the system.

As the first step of setting up an SMSF, you need to first establish the trust by obtaining a trust deed that gives a clear explanation of the responsibilities and duties held by the trustees as well as the scope of the SMSF fund. The creation process of the trust deed must meet the relevant requirements of objectives and needs of members and it must also be created specifically for your fund. What happens then usually is that new funds appoint the trustees under the trust deed of the fund.

The execution of the trust deed in a proper way means that you have successfully established your SMSF legally. After the trustees sign the declaration of trustee, the fund must be registered with Australian Taxation Office aka ATO. The registration process of the fund with ATO includes the task of electing the fund to be regulated within 60 days of time after establishing your SMSF. The election process allows your fund to be a complying fund and to receive tax concessions.

A successful registration of the fund with ATO will allocate a Tax File Number aka TFN and an Australian Business Number aka ABN to the fund you created. In cases where the annual turnover of your fund is higher than $ 75,000, the Self Managed Superannuation Fund should be registered for Goods & Services Tax aka GST.

Opening a bank account in the account with the name of your SMSF is necessary for further proceedings of the fund. The bank account with the name of SMSF allows the management of operations done under fund to be done in a smoother way while it also allows you to accept the contributions in cash.

The cash contributions and the rollovers of super benefits are deposited straightly into the bank account of the fund and then the money of the account is used according to the investment strategy of the fund. The earnings obtained through fund investments are credited to the bank account of the fund.

The purpose of preparing an investment strategy is to plan how the investments of fund objectives are handled. The investment strategy should possess the quality in it in order to comply with the investment decisions as well as the super laws. Future Assist SMSF can be a handy advisor for your SMSF needs as Future Assist SMSF provides you with the option of preparing the investment strategy with high quality guidance. However what should be noted is that the trustees of the fund will hold the responsibility of managing the investments of the fund.

Self Managed Superannuation Fund is a great way to invest and make profits using the purchasing procedure of shares.  There are number of benefits of share trading in your SMSF if you manage to invest wisely with your SMSF. Some restrictions however apply to the process of sharing the trade and Future Assist SMSF can be there to make sure that the investment plan of your SMSF getting completed neatly. 

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