Self-managed superfund (SMSF) is a trust which provides members a source of retirement income. The law requires that the trustee of the SMSF to also be a member of the fund. An individual effectively wears two hats, the trustee hat and members hat. When wearing the trustee's hat, that individual controls the fund, making decisions on what to invest and when to pay income tax or any other expenses. When wearing the member's hat, that individual simply has to wait until they reach retirement age or more technically, meet their "preservation age" before they can withdraw any pension or lump sum from the SMSF. 

But is an SMSF suitable for you? See if you can answer yes to all the questions below :

1) You are not an undischarged bankrupt or convicted felon.
2) You are organised and able to file documents safely.
3) You are responsible and obey rules.
4) You don't treat the superfund like an ATM machine.
5) You are aware the SMSF needs to be audited every year.
6) You have some experience buying and selling shares or other investments.
7) You are aware there are certain investments a superfund can not buy. Eg. residential home belonging to a related party, cars, boat, caravans, personal-use assets, in-house assets.

If you said no to any of these questions, then perhaps an SMSF is not ideal for you. Chances are you could lose your entire fund balance because of a bad investment decision. Unlike APRA-regulated funds, SMSFs do not have access to compensation arrangements under the Pt 23 of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 in the event of theft or fraud. (APRA = Australian Prudential Regulation Authority)

If you said yes to all these questions, then we can help you setup your own SMSF. Please see a licensed Financial Adviser to assess if an SMSF is a good investment strategy for you.