Come on Terry,
They are not complex and costly at all. You just need to do your research and upskill your own knowledge before going into it.
I probably spend 1-2 hours max per year running my SMSF and I have never paid the usual over inflated annual costs others kick about like 2-3k
I often woner if accountants etc love stirring the drama around SMSF's so that they can justify the criminal fees they charge.
Regards
ScottyB
Congratulations. First SMSF trustee I have encountered who understands what "self manage" means. Thats how its supposed to work. But in reality its not what happens in 95% of cases. You are one of the few. If you are married and your wife is a member I assume she is also fully committed to managing things alongside you. If not, your fund is actually mismanaged.
I'm offended you consider my profession to be criminals. Its quite the opposite since a single criminal offence is cause to hang up the certificates ! Thats probably based on ignorance, Certainly not an educated opinion. I have a large number of SMSF clients who have no idea about some aspects of managing their SMSF. They ASK for, and value the guidance, stragegies and support. Some ask very little and others a lot. Thats up to them. Have to say that of all clients I have never had one leave because they thought prices were too high or their expectactions were not satisfied. We endeavour to provide that advice at a fair fee. I'm unaware of a free service ...Let me know when one starts. Imagine it will need to be manned by people with an AFSL, Accounting degree, Practicing cert, PI Insurance, Legal expertise and lots of experince to start.
Generally those with very low SMSF costs are those with little $$. I generally see many people who use a SMSF to avoid the uncapped nature of findustry / public fund fees. SMSF fees are typically capped and unaffected by rising wealth so a fund with $2m will have similiar costs to a fund with $400K. The $100K SMSF doesnt see that though and they tend to be the very price sensitive ones cause they are in a gray area. So the clients who pay $3-$4k are often very happy having paid $15,000 or more for non-SMSF super previously....That often gets overlooked.
I also assist a large number of funds :
- Wives whose husband (etc) has hijacked their SMSF...See there is no regulatory safeguard for a SMSF so the only avenue is the courts.
- Death benefits & estate planning strategies
- Mismanaged with non-compliance because some trustee thinks its "his" money.
- Insurances
- Strategies, strategies, strategies....The true heart of the benefit of a SMSF.
- The related party issue - It and "in house assets" are a frequent issue and never as simple as you think. You have no idea how many SMSF trustees think its OK to buy BHP Shares when the members work for BHP...(as an example). Same people who also think its OK for the SMSF to buy auntie dots house from her estate when she dies. And these people are well educated and clever people like Doctors..
