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Superannuation

Superannuation is Australia’s official pension and retirement scheme. It’s a means of saving and investing to accumulate wealth and then using that wealth to create a stream of income for living expenses and consumption when a person retires or leaves the work force later in life.

 

More Australians than ever are covered by superannuation so its vitally important to get specialist professional advice to meet your savings and retirement needs.

 

The tax advantages of superannuation means a larger investment can be made compared to investing after tax dollars.

 

A superannuation fund is an indefinitely continuing fund set up to provide retirement and death benefits to members. Regulated complying funds receive concessional tax treatment including;

  • 0% tax contributions and earnings in pension phase

  • low 15% contributions and earnings tax

  • 10% CGT in accumulation phase

 

At Monument Private Wealth we can advise on various superannuation fund categories including;

  • Self managed super funds,

  • Public sector super funds,

  • Corporate super funds,

  • Industry funds

  • Retail funds

Pre-Retirement strategies

A range of pre‐retirement strategies exist that Monument Private Wealth can utilise to assist a client in meeting their retirement goals and objectives:

  • Maximising super contributions

  • Salary sacrificing

  • Contributions splitting

  • TTR pensions

  • Withdrawal and re‐contribution strategies

  • Strategies to reduce the taxable component of a super account

  • Consolidating multiple super / pension accounts

Retirement planning & Income Streams

There are many factors that contribute to wealth creation and our job is to help you plan to convert a desired retirement income stream into an accumulated amount inside and outside superannuation. We can outline in terms clients readily understand the results of our financial modelling to help clients in forming a view as to what constitutes an adequate retirement income.

 

How much will you accumulate and how much retirement income this will produce for you hinges on how much retirement income you desire. We will help you answer the following retirement planning questions.

 

How much wealth do we need to start with?

At what rate do we add to it?

At what rate of return do we invest it?

What are the impacts of tax?

What is the capital sum at the end?

Will you have an adequate retirement income?

Investment Portfolio Construction

Through our long term experience investing over decades and depending on your investment objectives and goals we will assist you in the process of deciding how to distribute your wealth among different countries and types of investments.

 

The process of asset allocation and our expertise in selecting types of assets to include in the portfolio will vastly determine portfolio return. The outcome of any particular investment strategy will depend on your goals and time horizon and we will allocate available funds to minimize investors risks and meet investment goals.

 

We will always monitor and update investments to:

  • Evaluate portfolio performance
  • Focus on investors needs and market conditions
  • Revise advice needs and outcomes
  • Modify investment strategy accordingly

 

As an investment specialist we provide assistance and advice on personal investment strategies for individual clients. We will make assessments about your risk and return profile to establish the investment path that best suits you.

Personal Risk Management

As a general rule we can have uncertainty without risk, but we cannot have risk without uncertainty. Risk confronts individuals to varying degrees and at various points in time. For individuals premature death is an example of pure risk that affects you as an individual and your finances and is very difficult to diversify and therefore we believe should be a cornerstone of a well-constructed financial plan.

 

Other examples of how we mange risk for individuals is in sickness, total and permanent disability, accident and income protection.

 

Our risk management process is to work with clients and involves the following steps;

  • Define objectives

  • Identify potential loss exposures

  • Quantify potential loss exposures

  • Select the most appropriate risk management technique

  • Implement and monitor your risk management program

 

Our systematic approach to personal risk management

 

  • Identify the risks of premature death, prolonged illness / injury, medical costs and business risk

  • Evaluate the risks of lump sum costs, provision for dependants and disablement costs

  • Control the risks of lifestyle factors (ie diet, fitness, smoking)

  • Assess if you meet the requirements from your own resources

  • Transfer the risk and financial responsibility to an insurer

 

Once potential sources of risk are identified, quantified and ranked we can implement strategies to manage these risks.

Tax

At Monument Private Wealth we don’t think of tax as a penalty rather we focus on the elements that formulate taxable income for individuals and business with a detailed understanding of assessable income and the application of tax rates, capital gains tax, trusts, deferred income, deductions and rebates and apply the most appropriate tax minimisation strategies for our clients.

 

We understand that tax is a specialist area and we partner with accountants and other tax professionals to provide our clients with exceptional advice tailored to their needs, goals and objectives.

Self-Managed Super Funds

Self-managed super funds are a special type of super fund and there are many underlying reasons for clients to consider a self-managed super fund including a desire for individuals to have control without any outside influences.

 

Other attractions of self-managed super funds is a desire to have;

  • direct investment control,

  • long term estate planning,

  • borrow funds for investment,

  • own direct property

  • hold other unique assets (i.e., artwork)

 

There are specific rules that determine who can be members and trustees of these funds and at Monument Private Wealth we work with our clients and professionals to examine the suitability of the self-managed super fund structure to particular clients.

Salary Packaging

Salary sacrifice is the most common form of salary packaging where an employee agrees to forego cash benefit from their salary in return for additional contributions to superannuation. The employee pays no income tax on the contribution which means there are tax savings to the employee and earnings in the superannuation are taxed concessionally which makes salary packaging a very popular wealth creation strategy.

Age Pension

We understand that the age pension is an important income stream in retirement, and we work with clients to maximise their entitlements including.

 

  • Pensioner concession card

    • PBS + other benefits

  • Health care card

    • PBS only

  • Commonwealth seniors health care card

    • PBS only

    • Access to the card is means tested

  • Other state and local government benefits (ie reduction in energy bills etc)

Residential Aged Care

We understand helping a loved one enter care can be a stressful and emotional time and we will help you fully understand the options that are available and help you make the right decisions on behalf of your family.

Estate Planning

We advise on estate planning as it is a way of ensuring that a person’s estate is passed onto their beneficiaries in the most equitable, financially efficient and tax effective way

Our aim is to manage;

  • wealth accumulated over life time to ensure it is protected for future generations

  • wealth goes where intended

  • minimise family squabbles

  • minimise tax

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Gearing

Different forms and degrees of borrowing exist:

  • Can borrow to invest into a wide range of different investments and asset classes

  • Primarily seeking long-term capital growth

  • May need to provide security

  • Interest may be tax deductible

 

Potential benefits include:

  • Maximising wealth creation opportunities:

    • an investor has access to a larger portfolio than would be available by using their own funds. This effectively allows investors to access higher gains on their own funds than would otherwise be the case.

  • Tax benefits:

    • gearing may help to reduce the investor’s overall tax liability by allowing the investor to claim borrowing and other costs as a tax deduction. The receipt of franking credits can also be a significant benefit.

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