We have seen cases where retirees have lost access to their Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) or seen a reduction in their Age Pension because they lost their account-based pension (ABP) grandfathering by rolling over or restarting the pension.

Once upon a time, there lived many retirees that rolled over their superannuation savings to commence what was known as a “complying income stream”.

TRIS's have been excluded from the actuarial % calculation since 1 July 2017. While they are included once the member turns 65 or retires, the process is not automatic. Without care, the TRIS will accidentally continue to be ignored.

In our article “Why isn’t my actuarial % as high as I thought it would be?” we highlighted a number of scenarios where an actuarial certificate may appear to give an odd result.

This has become a common question since pensions and exempt current pension income (ECPI) got more complicated from 1 July 2017. In theory, we should also be asked why the actuarial % looks too high. Funnily enough we don’t get many of those!

If you’ve ever doubted the merits of having an SMSF or the value of good advice, then look no further than the recent Administrative Appeals Tribunal case between a superannuation fund member (David Reiter) and the Department of Social Services.

So your client has decided to wind up their SMSF? It’s vital for all involved to be aware of the potential traps in the windup process to avoid unnecessary costs and complexity.

There are some situations where an SMSF is no longer suitable or appropriate for its members. However, it is not always possible to immediately wind up the fund.

There are many reasons why individuals choose an SMSF as their primary retirement savings vehicle. However for some, there will come a time when the SMSF is no longer appropriate for them.

Ideally retirement is planned and eagerly anticipated. But these are times of unexpected job losses – how does superannuation access work for those over preservation age now?

Obviously there have been temporary changes to superannuation conditions of release as a result of the pandemic. There have been no changes to the definition of “retirement” but how does this work in a Covid-19 environment?

Meg Heffron answers why it’s not possible for SMSF members to top up their pension balance - even though it has dropped below the $1.6m pension cap - if the cap had been reached previously. - Originally published in "Australian Financial Review"