A large portion of practitioners have been found to favour a complete reworking of the exempt current pension income (ECPI) calculation rules.

Practical evidence suggests the disregarded small fund assets component of the exempt current pension income rules is continuing to cause confusion.

The SMSF Association has predicted the government will allow ECPI elections to take place at the end of an income year as it will make little difference to its received revenue.

Assurances from the government that the age pension and other benefits will be retained will drive more people to draw down on their accumulated retirement savings.

Reversionary pensions can be knocked back if they threaten other aspects of an SMSF member’s financial arrangements.

The SMSF Association has predicted minimum pension drawdown rates will return to pre-COVID-19 levels, but remain static at that point despite changes in life expectancy.

SMSF practitioners are still searching for ways to extinguish pension reserves in an SMSF that are no longer needed.