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Retirees can Help their Children Avoid Hidden Taxes

A free workshop on the Gold Coast will help retirees avoid financial traps and hidden taxes when planning their estate.

Because there are no death duties in Australia many retirees assume their entire estate will ultimately pass to their children free of tax. However many retirees are not aware that a combination of superannuation lump sum tax and capital gains tax could reduce their estate significantly.

Fortunately there are strategies that retirees can undertake to limit tax liabilities

For example, take the case of Bill who is married to Betty. Bill’s will says, “I leave my superannuation to my two daughters Myra and Lila.” If the super fund was poorly structured, the daughters could incur hundreds of thousands of dollars in capital gains tax plus many more thousands of dollars in lump sum tax.

Another major trap for retirees with Self-Managed Super Funds (SMSFs) is that if your will and Enduring Power of Attorney do not compliment the structure of the SMSF, the intended beneficiaries may in fact receive nothing.

Bill’s will leaves his entire super to his daughters, but will the daughters get the super? Quite possibly they won’t get a cent.

Regrettably many advisers and solicitors are not alerting retirees to these opportunities to limit tax liabilities and ensure the maximum amount of your estate passes to your loved ones.

These two issues will be dealt with at a free meeting of Australians in Retirement where two specialist speakers will advise how retirees can avoid these serious financial traps. The meeting will be held at 9:30 am at the Broadbeach Seniors’ Centre, 23 T E Peters Drive, (cnr Havana Keys), Broadbeach on Wednesday 5th November.

All Gold Coast retirees are welcome to attend. For further information or to register your attendance please contact Rob Grover at robgrover@hotmail.com.

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Alana Lowes

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