The complexity of the current super system requires all parts of super to ensure the government does not “stuff it up”, while the SMSF industry should be working towards protecting and safeguarding the sector, according to the Tax Institute.

Before the 2017 superannuation reforms, often a retired couple would make a simple binding death benefit nomination (BDBN) in favour of each other and assume the surviving spouse could receive either a tax-free lump sum and/or a tax-free pension, and effectively defer any decisions around what to do once they were both gone to the surviving spouse.