Can Non-Reversionary Pensions be made Reversionary?

If a pension commences as a non-reversionary pension can that pension be made reversionary without stopping and restarting the pension? The answer is a simple and definite “Yes” if the pension is an account style pension (such as account based pensions and transition to retirement pensions) and the governing rules expressly permit pensions to be varied.

Haive Grace Caballes27 September 2024FINANCIAL ADVISOR ADELAIDE, FINANCIAL PLANNER ADELAIDE, Pension, Transition to retirementComment

Back-dating pension commencement – is this permitted?

It is not possible to backdate the commencement of a pension. However, if the trustee and the member have informally agreed that a pension would commence from a particular date in a financial year (typically, 1 July for obvious reasons) and, in fact, pension payments are made in that financial year and the aggregate of the pension payments

Why the Government will continue to target super and the pension

An aging population will drive policy decisions. New forecasts from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) highlight how quickly our population will age, and investors need to prepare now for the enormous changes that it will bring.

Pension commutations

One of the most significant features of account-based pensions is the ability to commute the pension, whether in full (also known as a 100% commutation) or in part (a partial commutation ie. less than 100%).

Is it possible to commence a pension with a balance greater than $1.9m? Yes and No!

Generally pensions cannot be commenced if the initial pension account balance is greater than $1.9m (the current transfer balance cap which applies from 1 July 2023).

Who can claim Death Benefits?

When a member of a superannuation fund passes away, any benefit they have within superannuation must be cashed as soon as practicable.

Haive Grace Caballes25 September 2023Financial Advisor Adelaide, Adelaide financial planner, Superannuation, Pension, Death benefitComment

What you should know: Don’t take too long to pay a benefit – it may change from a member benefit to a death benefit!

A very interesting (and surprising) Private Binding Ruling has been recently released by the ATO (reference details at the foot of the article). In short, because a trustee (of a self-managed superannuation fund) took over 28 weeks to pay a commutation lump sum, the benefit was considered to be a death benefit and not a member benefit.

Haive Grace Caballes25 August 2023Financial Advisor Adelaide, Adelaide financial planner, SMSF, Retirement Planning, PensionComment

How will downsizing affect Age Pension?

Often individuals and couples, once they are retired and receiving the age pension, will want to downsize their home to more suitable accommodation. If the individual or couple own their own home, the home is excluded from the age pension assets test, irrespective of the value of the home. But what happens to their age pension if they sell their current home to buy another home?

Pensions – End of Financial Year Actions

Now that the end of the 2022/23 financial year is almost here, superannuation members who are currently receiving pensions need to take certain actions.