Blog
August 18, 2016
Everyone understands the importance of a Will, but how do you ensure your wishes are carried out when you’re no longer around? Who can contest your Will and what are their chances of success? Maud’s four children hadn’t visited in years so she left her fortune to an obscure charity for wayward arachnids. An extreme example, certainly, yet many would argue that Maud’s wish to bequeath her estate to spiders should be respected. Fundamentally, Maud’s situation is common: lonely elderly person, charity, disgruntled family members. Who could challenge Maud’s Will and under what circumstances? Firstly, it’s important to note that […]
August 18, 2016
A common way to measure the sustainability of retirement income is to calculate an annual withdrawal rate – the amount of income as a proportion of a retiree’s total capital. For instance, drawing an income of $4,000 a year from savings of $100,000 is, of course, a four per cent withdrawal rate. And a leading topic of discussion in the retirement services industry is identifying an optimal drawdown rate so that a retiree’s capital lasts as long as possible. Recently-published research from Vanguard in the US goes a step further by looking how much of annual retirement drawdowns by retirees […]
August 11, 2016
For most people, being debt free in retirement is a priority. Others find the concept of ’good debt’ in retirement less stressful. From an age/service pension perspective the correct structuring of good debt is important to ensure that any entitlement you may receive is not adversely affected. When it comes to the Social Security Act – loans and encumbrances can be complicated and, in some cases, a little illogical. It is very important to understand that the taxation rules relating to debt are not necessarily the same as social security rules. For example; real estate investments can be considered. So […]