The end of financial year is fast approaching so now is a good time to make smart decisions for your financial future.  You should speak to your financial planner about what strategies are appropriate for you, but here are a few examples to get you thinking and asking the right questions…

 Superannuation

1. Maximise your contributions – if you have surplus income and have not already maximised the concessional contributions cap you may want to salary sacrifice to make the most of your contributions. Make sure you check what the cap is for your particular age group. This will reduce your taxable income and increase your retirement savings.
2. Government co-contribution – if you earn less than $48,516 from employment income you may qualify for a government contribution of up to $500 if you make a personal after tax super contribution of up to $1,000. This will help you to increase your retirement savings.
3. Boost your partner’s super – if you have a spouse who earns less than $13,800pa you could make an after tax super contribution on their behalf. You receive a tax offset of up to $540 and increase your spouse’s retirement savings.

 Insurance

1. Buy insurance in super tax effectively – you can purchase life and total and permanent disability insurance inside of super. By doing this you can benefit from tax concessions and make the premiums more affordable.
2. Pre-pay income protection premiums – if you hold your income protection insurance outside of super and are an employee or self-employed, you can pre-pay 12 months premiums to bring forward your tax deduction to pay less income tax in this financial year.

 Investing

1. Pre-pay your investment loan interest – if you have or are considering starting a geared investment portfolio you could pre-pay 12 months interest on your investment loan. This will bring forward your tax deduction so you pay less income tax in this financial year.
2. Plan carefully – if you are looking at buying or selling assets you should consider the tax implications whether it be gains or losses and plan carefully to minimise the impact.
3. Make better use of your tax refund – if you receive a tax refund you may want to firstly pay off non-deductible debts, look at debt recycling or boosting your superannuation. This will enable you to save on interest costs and invest your refund tax effectively.

End of financial year planning is important – it will not only help you in the short term, it will significantly benefit you in the long term.  Smart planning can help you to:

• Boost your retirement savings
• Maximise your government entitlements, and
• Minimise your tax liabilities.

You should sit down with your financial planner and look at what the best strategies are to help you.

By Elise Ryan, Associate Financial Planner

To read the full MLC Flyer ‘Smart End Of Financial Year strategies 2013/14’ click here.

Source: https://www.mlc.com.au/resources/eofy/Document/pdf/eofy2014_smart_eofy_strategies_overview.pdf

The information in this document reflects our understanding of existing legislation, proposed legislation, rulings etc as at the date of issue.  In some cases the information has been provided to us by third parties.  Whilst it is believed the information is accurate and reliable, this is not guaranteed in any way.

Please note: The advice in this article is of a general nature only and has not been tailored to your personal circumstances.  Please seek personal advice prior to acting on this information