The new financial year has arrived with a bang for financial planners with the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA) regime now applying to the profession. Read more

What do you do if you and your spouse have an SMSF and want to ensure that your superannuation entitlements get paid to your preferred beneficiary if you pass away? Read more

A little known quirk in the preservation rules can have important implications for clients. This article explains how the quirk arises, and then how to use it to advantage clients. In a nutshell, the quirk allows trustees of super funds to 'cherry pick' ... Read more

With the new penalties for SMSFs, trustees and advisers need to ask themselves: "should I be afraid, very afraid," or should they just be mildly concerned? Read more

Self managed super funds (SMSFs) continue to enjoy huge popularity. Read more

In the absence of a binding death benefit nomination, those who control the trustee will control the destination of the death benefit: hence a battle for the control of the trustee will arise. Read more

Setting up a self-managed super fund (SMSF) has certainly been the flavour of the month for many Australian investors. Today, more than one million individual funds account for $559 billion or one third of total superannuation assets. But recently the ... Read more

Ben started out working as a store man and managed to work his way up to the general manager position of the organisation by the age of 32. During this time, Ben made a lot of connections and was offered a pathway into the CEO position with an expected ... Read more

The biggest challenge facing financial advice businesses today is compliance costs and time. But the industry will have to turn its attention to client service and engagement. Read more

Shadforth Financial Group private client adviser David Raits helps a longtime SMSF client set up a charitable foundation to build a legacy. Read more

Advisers need to find the right mix when they communicate with clients. Communication strategies must be tailored to the age and the profile of each client. Read more

The future is bright for new SMSF investors. They have joined one million of their fellow Australians in taking control of their family's financial future. But they should never lose sight of their ultimate goal. Read more

Every financial planner will face objections at some point of the sales process: it is unavoidable. Although objections can create obstacles in connecting with the client on a personal level, facing an objection also presents a valuable opportunity ... Read more

To motivate behavioural change, insurers need to create tangible triggers: events or rewards, not fear and peace of mind. They need to use important life stages to make people think about protecting life. Read more