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The post How Our Diets have Changed. appeared first on Professional Wealth Services.

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Michael Hallinan, special counsel for SUPERCentral, said the deeming rate threshold from 1 July 2026 will be $66,800 for single age pensioners (previously $64,200) and $110,600 for coupled age pensioners (previously $106,200).

The income-free area per fortnight from 1 July 2026 will be $226 for single age pensioners (previously $218) and $396 for coupled age pensioners (previously $380).

“For individuals who are already receiving a full age pension, that is the age pension which has not been reduced by either the income or assets test, these changes will have no impact,” Hallinan said.

“For individuals who are receiving a part pension, that is the age pension has been reduced by either the income or assets test, these changes will have a beneficial impact. Assuming your assets and income have not increased, your age pension payments should increase.”

Hallinan continued that individuals who before 1 July 2026 had not qualified for a part age pension due to the income or asset means test may now be entitled to a small part age pension.

“While the age pension entitlement may not be significant, the entitlement to even $1 of age pension means that they will be entitled to the Centrelink pensioner concession card rather than the seniors health card,” he said.

“The potential entitlement albeit small part age pension of individuals who had been previously excluded from a part age pension occurs due to the increase in the income levels and asset levels at which entitlement to a part age pension ceases.”

From 1 July 2026, the relevant cut thresholds at which the entitlement to a part age pension ceases will increase to:

Income test

• $2,627.80 per fortnight – single (previously $2,619.80); and
• $4,016,80 per fortnight – couple combined (previously $4,000.80)

Assets test – homeowners

• $733,500 – single (previously $722,000)
• $1,102,500 – couple combined (previously $1,085,00)

  Assets test – non-homeowners

• $1,000,500 – single (previously $980,000)
• $1,369,500 – couple combined (previously $1,343,000).

From 1 July 2026, the asset test free area (amount of assets below which there is no reduction to age pension entitlement) will be:

Income test

• $226 per fortnight – single (previously $218); and
• $396 per fortnight – couple combined (previously $380).

Assets test – homeowners

• $333,000 – single (previously $321,500)
• $499,000 – couple combined (previously $481,500)

Assets test – non-homeowners

• $600,000 – single (previously $579,500)
• $766,000 – couple combined (previously $739,500).

“The above rates apply to resident age pension recipients who are not entitled to a transitional age pension,” Hallinan said.

Keeli Cambourne
July 24, 2026
smsfadviser.com

The post New deeming thresholds could deliver small part age pension appeared first on Professional Wealth Services.

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Australia is entering one of the largest intergenerational wealth transfers in its history. Over the next two decades, Australians aged 60 and over are expected to transfer around $3.5 trillion in wealth¹. As more Australians receive an inheritance, taking time to develop a clear plan may help turn inherited wealth into long-term financial security.

Whether your inheritance is a modest sum or worth millions, taking time to develop a clear investment strategy may help ensure the funds support your long-term financial goals.

The first steps…

Receiving an inheritance often comes with a mix of emotions, which can make it difficult to think long term. Rather than rushing into financial decisions, taking time to develop a clear plan may help you make the most of the opportunity.

An inheritance may come in the form of cash, property, shares, managed investments or superannuation benefits. Each type of asset may be subject to rules around their transfer and relevant capital gains or estate taxes. Those rules can be confusing, so it may be helpful to get accounting, legal or wealth-planning advice early to ensure major decisions are made with a full understanding of the implications.

What does a financial plan look like?

A well-structured financial plan may help you make the most of an inheritance and ensure it supports your long-term goals. Consider starting with the following:

• Conduct a financial stocktake. Review your income, savings, debts and existing investments to understand your overall financial position. Before investing an inheritance consider whether paying off any high-interest debt or setting aside an emergency savings buffer could provide greater financial security.
• Set clear financial goals in line with your new inheritance. Are you looking to cut debt, save for an event, or secure your retirement? Defining your priorities will help shape your strategy.
• Develop a savings and investment strategy. Once you have a clear understanding of your financial position and goals, consider how your inheritance could be allocated to support them. This may involve balancing shorter-term priorities, such as travel or education expenses, with longer-term objectives, such as retirement. Diversifying across different asset classes, including shares, fixed income, cash and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), may help manage risk and support long-term growth. Avoiding excessive exposure to a single investment or asset class may also help create a more resilient portfolio.

Common mistakes to avoid

People often think of an inheritance as unexpected money rather than part of a long-term financial plan. This can lead to people making decisions that feel rewarding in the short term but do little to improve long-term financial well-being. Common mistakes include making large lifestyle upgrades too quickly, leaving sums in cash in low interest accounts, ignoring tax implications and failing to consider diversification.

Don’t forget your superannuation and family trusts

Depending on individual circumstances, contributing some of your inheritance to superannuation may offer tax advantages, although contribution caps, eligibility requirements and tax outcomes may vary. Consider seeking financial advice to understand how super rules apply to your situation.

Other investment structures such as family trusts may also play a role in managing wealth. Depending on your circumstances, they may offer tax planning opportunities. Some people may also choose to use part of their inheritance to support charitable causes, including through donations to deductible gift recipient (DGR) organisations.

Turning a windfall into a legacy

An inheritance is about more than money. For many people, it represents the legacy of a loved one and the culmination of years of saving, investing and planning.

While every situation is different, understanding your goals, maintaining a diversified approach and focusing on long-term outcomes may help transform inherited wealth into lasting financial security.

Vanguard
15 July 2026
vanguard.com.au

The post How to maximise the impact of your inheritance appeared first on Professional Wealth Services.

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What if I have financial assets?

What are the asset limits?

The post Can I still get the Age Pension if my super is healthy? appeared first on Professional Wealth Services.

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The post Six ways Gen X can build retirement savings appeared first on Professional Wealth Services.

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The post New to SMSFs? Start preparing for your first SAR lodgment appeared first on Professional Wealth Services.

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In a communication with clients, Busoli noted while splitting concessional contributions to a spouse may appear to have limited impact in a single year, it could also be applied for carried forward unused concessional cap purposes, thus boosting the strategy’s effectiveness.

He noted the rules enabled a super fund member to relegate after-tax concessional contributions to an eligible spouse who is under preservation age, or between preservation age and 65 and not retired, or between 60 and 65 and has not terminated gainful employment after age 60.

“For higher-balance members, splitting can result in an increased entitlement to make non-concessional contributions by lowering their total super balance to under any of the three non-concessional cap pivot points,” he explained.

“For lower-balance members, it may provide access to the five-year unused concessional contribution entitlement by keeping, or lowering, their total super balance to below the $500,000 threshold.”

He pointed out a split, which could only be 85 per cent of the previous year’s allowable contribution, would be treated as a rollover and did not reduce monies allocated to super for reporting and cap purposes. Additionally, it would take place in the year following the year of contribution.

“This means that its effect on each member’s future contribution entitlements is delayed as a concessional contribution made in the 2026 year is not split until the 2027 year, so the lowering of the total super balance does not have an effect until the 2028 year, based on that balance at the end of the 2027 year,” Busoli added.

July 22, 2026
Jason Spits
smsmagazine.com.au

The post Contribution splitting now more valuable appeared first on Professional Wealth Services.

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New data from Australia’s specialist non-bank lenders reveals the Government’s ban on new residential LRBA for self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) will affect a market significantly larger than official estimates suggest, with major implications for housing supply and competition in the mortgage market.

Preliminary data provided by members of the Australian Finance Industry Association (AFIA) shows over 16,000 new residential SMSF loans were written in FY26, with total security of $10.3 billion. As AFIA members do not represent the full market, the true figure is likely higher.

This is approximately four to five times the ATO’s average yearly estimate of 4,000 new LRBAs, and suggests the scale of this market, and the impact of the ban, may not have been fully understood when the amendment was passed without consultation.

AFIA chief executive Diane Tate said the data painted a very different picture of the market than the one on which the policy was based.

“This is not a small or marginal segment of the lending market. Our members alone wrote over 16,000 new residential SMSF loans in FY26. The ATO estimate of 4,000 per year is based on data that Treasury officials have acknowledged is around three years old. The policy was designed around an incomplete picture and supposedly a review conducted well over a decade ago,” Tate said.

The member data also shows that residential SMSF lending is written at an average loan to value ratio (LVR) of approximately 67 per cent, significantly below the 70 to 80 per cent LVR typical of mainstream residential investment lending. This directly addresses the systemic risk rationale cited in support of the ban.

“At an average LVR of 67 per cent, with substantial member equity contributions and a heavily supervised regulatory structure, the systemic risk argument does not stack up against the evidence,” Tate added.

AFIA is not calling for the ban to be reversed but recommending a targeted exemption for new residential dwellings, using the existing definition in section 26-160 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 already legislated as part of the Government’s own tax reform package.

“The Government has already drawn a principled distinction between new and established residential dwellings in its CGT and negative gearing reforms, preserving full concessions for new dwellings to encourage housing supply. Applying that same logic to SMSF borrowing is internally consistent, uses the Government’s own drafting, and does not reopen the core policy agreement,” Tate said.

“A significant portion of our members’ SMSF lending is already directed toward new build residential dwellings. A new dwelling exemption would preserve this private capital contribution to housing supply at exactly the time the Government is trying to build more homes. Residential property held in an SMSF is rental stock, so this form of property ownership is not only good for supporting new housing, but critical for underpinning the rental market.”

She added that non-bank lenders stepped into this market when the major banks withdrew in 2018, and have driven genuine competition, innovation and choice for SMSF trustees ever since.

“Removing this segment does not just affect SMSF trustees, it weakens competition in the broader mortgage market, and directly and adversely impacts housing supply and affordability across markets,” Tate said.

AFIA is also calling on the Government to provide urgent clarification ahead of the August 10, 2026 commencement date on the treatment of exchanged contracts, off-the-plan purchases and refinancing arrangements, to ensure an orderly transition for borrowers who acted in good faith under existing law.

AFIA and its members remain committed to working constructively with the Government and Parliament to ensure the measure is implemented in a way that supports housing supply, protects competition, innovation and choice, and does not create unintended harm for working Australians entering home ownership and planning for their retirement wellbeing.

Keeli Cambourne
July 28, 2026
smsfadviser.com

The post ATO’s LRBA data significantly less than industry figures appeared first on Professional Wealth Services.

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The post The evolution of the world’s languages appeared first on Professional Wealth Services.

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The study revealed 42 per cent of Australians believe they need more than $1 million to retire comfortably. However, ASFA estimates a couple requires $730,000 and a single person $630,000 to provide themselves with a comfortable lifestyle when they cease gainful employment.

At the same time, the most recent ASFA Retirement Standard increased by 1.5 per cent over the March quarter for a couple and 2 per cent for a single person, while the consumer price index rose by 1.5 per cent over the same period.

“Inflation is changing how Australians think about their financial futures. When households really feel the pressure of grocery, petrol, energy and other bills [that] keep climbing, people naturally assume that retirement will cost a fortune,” ASFA chief executive Mary Delahunty noted.

“But the reality is that retirement generally costs less than working life. Retirees pay no tax on superannuation pension income after 60, most own their home outright, work-related costs disappear and concessions reduce the price of energy, medicines, transport and council rates.”

ASFA indicated the housing affordability crisis for young people may also be a factor in people’s estimations of how much they will need in retirement. A much larger proportion, 51 per cent, of young people aged between 25 to 34 feel they will need more than $1 million to retire comfortably, with 23 per cent saying they will need more than $2 million.

“House prices have diverged significantly from wages over the last two decades and many people now expect to carry rent or mortgage payments into retirement. It makes sense that they believe they will need much more in super than earlier generations did,” Delahunty said.

For retirees the biggest price increases over the 12 months to the end of March were for electricity, up 25.4 per cent, automotive fuel, up 24.2 per cent, coffee and tea, which rose by 10.7 per cent, and beef prices, which increased by 11.8 per cent.

June 15, 2026
Penny Pryor
smsmagazine.com.au

The post Adequate retirement savings misjudged appeared first on Professional Wealth Services.