Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens recently remarked that those about to retire are in a much worse position than those retiring 10 years ago. Such comments suggest the conventional theorem of putting your retirement savings to work in low-risk investments as soon as you finish your working career won’t generate enough income for the retirement phase.

Specialist listed investment company (LIC) provider Argo has introduced a new offering to the market, giving investors access to global listed infrastructure.

Practitioners around the nation feel an interest charge of between 7 and 8 percentage points above the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cash rate would be suitable to demonstrate a related-party loan had been conducted at arm’s length, according to a survey conducted by leading SMSF legal firm DBA Lawyers.

AMP SMSF last week started its latest initiative to provide AMP-aligned advisers and their support staff with SMSF education and accreditation through a new program.

Accountants must be wary of the opportunity costs associated with acquiring an Australian financial services licence (AFSL) in assessing their course of action when the exemption regarding SMSF advice was abolished, according to the head of an accounting firm.

Rules governing the acquisition of assets from related parties are strict but there is a little flexibility stemming from various exceptions, according to an SMSF specialist auditor.

The indexation of compliance penalty units announced in last week’s budget has reinforced the case for SMSFs to have a corporate trustee structure in place, a specialist lawyer has said.

Independent SMSF administration and advisory firm Selfmanagedsuper.com.au is aiming to put greater emphasis on its conservative clients’ investment needs this year and to address their requirement for a more targeted portfolio.