Self-Managed Super Funds

Most people who choose to set up an SMSF make this decision for the following reasons: 

• Have more control over all decisions affecting retirement savings
• Manage taxation outcomes more closely
• Increase flexibility to implement strategies that suit you and your family’s needs
• Reduce potential costs (especially on larger balances)
• Borrow to purchase investments in property and shares
• Hold commercial property from which members operate their own business from
• Invest directly in assets or structures that are not available in other funds.

But as with all investment decisions there are also disadvantages and risks.

The downside may include the amount of time you need to spend to manage the fund, the costs associated with administering SMSF’s with low balances, the personal risks of acting as trustee, potential estate planning issues following the mental decline or death of a trustee, and possibly the lack of expertise to create a better outcome than could be achieved by investing in other super funds.