What is superannuation?

Superannuation, often called super, is a way to save for your retirement. You build up super while you are working to make sure you can have a comfortable retirement.

Super is a tax effective environment for your money; the account is held in your name, and both you and your employer can deposit money into your account. Your money will attract investment earnings, and when you reach your ‘preservation age’, you are able to start drawing on these funds.

How does superannuation work?

Superannuation is treated differently to most other savings. For most people, super will be taxed at a lower rate than a similar investment outside super. If you’re self-employed, you may be able to claim a tax deduction for personal contributions you make to super.

How we can help?

The team at Financial Solutions Geraldton can help you understand, grow and manage your superannuation.

We can help you:
• Consolidate your super funds and help you save on fees
• Identify investment options tailored to your goals and risk profile
• Review your concessional and non-concessional contributions to super
• Identify strategies to help boost your superannuation
• Enjoy the benefits of salary sacrifice
• Understand your insurance options within superannuation
• Determine if you have the correct beneficiary nominations in place
• Determine whether a self-managed super fund (SMSF) is right for you.

How to find your lost super?

If you think you may have lost track of your super then you have access to services to help you find your lost accounts.

• ATO’s SuperSeeker service

This service searches the Lost Members Register and other ATO records, such as ATO-held super accounts and unclaimed super money, for your lost super accounts. You can also use the phone service (13 28 65).

• myGov

You can use the ATO’s myGov service to see details of all your super accounts, including any you have lost track of or forgotten about. You will need to create a myGov account and then link your account to the ATO service.

• Previous employers

Ask your previous employers for the names of the super funds that received contributions on your behalf.

Call us on 08 9964 9000 for more information about how we can help you make the most of your superannuation.

An accident, sickness or death of a working age parent will almost always have a significant impact on the financial circumstances of the family. Despite this Rice Warner Actuaries calculate that over 95 per cent of families do not have adequate insurance.

Having the right insurances in place can help protect your family and your income if the unexpected occurs.

There are different types of cover that fall under the broad heading of life insurance:

• Life cover – also known as term life insurance or death cover, pays a set amount of money when the insured person dies. The money will go to the people you nominate as beneficiaries on your policy.
• Total and permanent disability (TPD) cover – covers the costs of rehabilitation, debt repayments and the future cost of living if you are totally and permanently disabled. TPD cover is often bundled together with life cover.
• Trauma cover – provides cover if you are diagnosed with a specified illness or injury. These policies include the major illnesses or injuries that will make a significant impact on a person’s life, such as cancer or a stroke. It is also referred to as ‘critical illness’ cover or ‘recovery’ insurance.
• Income protection – replaces the income lost through your inability to work due to injury or sickness.

How we can help

Financial Solutions Geraldton has access to a large range of insurers and we can tailor your wealth protection plan to suit your circumstances. We will make the insurance process as simple as possible and help you get the right cover to protect you and those you love with a financial safety net in the event that the unexpected occurs.

Please call us on 08 9964 9000 to discuss.

Norm’s belief is that the most important trait of a quality Financial Planner is having the ability to ‘listen’. It is only after a Financial Planner has helped a client to fully articulate their current position, concerns, values, goals and objectives, that they are positioned to provide appropriate financial solutions that will help clients over their lifetime.

Michael has been working in the Financial Planning industry since 2017. He has his Diploma in Financial Planning, Diploma in Insurance Broking and a Graduate Certificate in Financial Planning.

Michael believes that seeing a financial adviser is more than just creating a plan that might get you from A to B, you must look at which behaviours need changing in order to actually get you to your desired result.

Outside of work, Michael enjoys spending time with his family, watching movies and practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.