Prestige Wealth Partners

Client Testimonial: Roley & Robyn Bateman

Rebecca — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 03:44:39 +0000

“We found Rebecca after deciding that we needed to take control of our finances and start doing some retirement planning. We have no hesitation recommending Rebecca Newton to anyone.”

Roley & Robyn Bateman

“Besides being highly qualified, Rebecca is professional and competent with a strong knowledge base in the financial field. What impressed us most has been the attention to our needs and the tailoring of a financial strategy to suit our individual circumstances.

Rebecca has always been available to discuss any concerns or issues we have and is prepared to spend time to assist in any way she is able. We now feel that our financial future is secure and know that Rebecca is always on hand should we need her.”

About Rebecca Newton

Prestige Wealth Partners is a financial planning practice based in the northern suburbs and established to provide a strong client focus delivered through high levels of personal services, Rebecca Newton and Prestige Wealth Partners provide a unique, consistent and cost effective financial planning service.

The initial appointment is complimentary and you are under no obligation to proceed.

Discover financial planning with a difference. Contact Rebecca today!

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Find your lost superannuation for free

Rebecca — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:51:00 +0000

Do you change jobs regularly? Do you have multiple superannuation accounts? Have you forgotten your account details or misplaced your information for one or more super funds?

If you do, the chances are you can find them using the ATO’s free SuperSeeker. All you need is your name, date of birth and tax file number.

Also, if you do, then the chances are you are paying a lot of management fees for your various super accounts.

Let Prestige Wealth Partners consolidate and simplify your superannuation benefits.

Have you lost your super details?

For more help maximising your superannuation

For more information about superannuation – please contact Rebecca Newton using the form below.

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What is Gearing? Learn about borrowing to invest

Rebecca — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:30:47 +0000

Gearing is the strategy of borrowing money to invest. Just as you take out a loan to buy a home, you can also borrow money to invest in other assets, such as shares, property or managed funds.

Gearing enables you to boost your investment earning power by increasing the amount of money you have available to invest. While investing with someone else’s money sounds like a great strategy (and it can be), there are risks involved, so it’s not suitable for everyone.

Prestige Wealth Partners makes gearing strategies easy to understand and easy to implement.

Generally, to be effective a geared investment should:

generate a reliable long-term income flow
generate capital growth that exceeds inflation over the medium to long term
be highly diversified with a number of individual investments
be considered for investment time frames of five years or more
draw on stable and reliable cash flows to meet the pre-tax borrowing costs.

Things to consider about geared investments:

Who is gearing appropriate for?
What are the benefits and the risks?
What is the difference between positive, negative and neutral gearing?
What is home equity gearing?
What is margin lending?
How do I repay a geared investment loan?
What is a Loan to Value Ratio (LVR)?
How does gearing affect my tax?

Rebecca Newton Financial Planner has the answers!

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Transition To Retirement Income Streams (TTR)

Rebecca — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:02:29 +0000

Are you approaching retirement? The years before you retire can be challenging. While you are probably looking forward to having more time to do the things you enjoy, you may not be ready to stop working.

Many people are also concerned about whether or not they have saved enough super. A transition to retirement strategy can help you ease into retirement and boost your super in a tax effective way.

What is a transition to retirement strategy?

Transition to retirement strategies are designed to give you greater flexibility as you move towards retirement. Once you reach what’s known as your ‘preservation age’, you can access your super by drawing a pre-retirement pension (a regular income stream drawn from your super savings).

What is a pre-retirement pension?

A pre-retirement pension allows you to draw a regular income from your super while you’re still working, provided you have reached your preservation age. There are restrictions on accessing your super as a lump sum during this pre-retirement phase.

Why start a pre-retirement pension?

A pre-retirement pension gives you the flexibility to draw down an income and at the same time contribute to your super, eg through salary sacrifice, in a way that may be more tax effective
than just relying on your salary. In most cases, you’ll pay less tax on your pension income than you would on the same amount of salary or wages.

Do I have to stop working to draw a pre-retirement pension?

No. In fact, transition to retirement strategies are generally most effective when you continue to work and contribute to your super while you draw a pre-retirement pension.

If you would like to ease your way into retirement, a transition to retirement strategy could enable you to reduce the number of hours you work or retire part time. While working less will mean a smaller pay packet, if you decide to take out a pre-retirement pension, you could supplement your work income with the pension payments. This would give you more time to do the things you want, while maintaining your income and lifestyle.

A transition to retirement strategy could also be beneficial if you have reached your preservation age but want to continue working full time. The tax concessions on offer can make this a great way to boost your super balance in the years before you enter full retirement.

For more information

For some answers to the questions above – download the Transition To Retirement Fact Sheet provided by Financial Wisdom – or contact Rebecca Newton using the form below.

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Residential Aged Care: What you need to know

Rebecca — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 11:30:55 +0000

Retire gracefully with dignity
and enjoy life in comfort

If you or a family member can no longer manage to live independently at home, you may need to consider moving into residential aged care.

Before you do, there are many factors to consider, including your eligibility, the costs involved and the effect on your finances and lifestyle.

Get some answers about the financial options for residential aged care from Rebecca Newton and Prestige Wealth Partners.

Important questions about residential aged care

What is residential aged care?
What care and services are provided?
How much does it cost?
How do I enter an age care facility?
What are the assessments?
How are assets assessed for aged care?
What affect will age care fees have on my pension?
Are there any tax offsets available?
How can financial advice help?

Rebecca Newton and Prestige Wealth Partners can help!

For some answers to the questions above – download the Residential Aged Care Fact Sheet provided by Financial Wisdom – or contact Rebecca Newton using the form below.

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Social Security: What you need to know

Rebecca — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 11:12:22 +0000

The Australian Government provides a range of social security benefits to provide financial assistance to retirees and lower income earners. Eligibility for many of these
benefits is subject to assets and income tests.

Prestige Wealth Partners can help you navigate the maze of Social Security programs and entitlements.

How much do you know about Social Security in Australia?

What is Centrelink?
What is the Age Pension?
What is the Service Pension?
What is Newstart Allowance?
How does the income test work?
How does the asset test work?
What is Family Tax Benefit? Part A and Part B?
What concession cards are available?

Speak to Rebecca Newton and let Prestige Wealth Partners remove the confusion about Social Security in Australia.

For more information – please download the Introduction to Social Security Fact Sheet provided by Financial Wisdom or contact Rebecca Newton using the form below.

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Intro to Self Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSF)

Rebecca — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 10:20:00 +0000

Self managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) have become increasingly popular. While establishing an SMSF can give you greater control and flexibility when planning for your retirement, they also have extensive administrative and compliance requirements.

It’s important to understand more about SMSFs to determine if this option is right for you.

What is an SMSF?

SMSFs are sometimes referred to as ‘do it yourself’ super funds. Like other super funds, SMSFs invest contributions from members, provide benefits to those members on retirement and provide death benefits to beneficiaries in the event of the member’s death.

The principal difference between SMSFs and other types of superannuation funds is that the members of an SMSF are also the trustees, or directors of a corporate trustee. Amongst other things this means they are required to prepare and implement an investment strategy for their fund and manage the payment of benefits.

SMSFs also provide wider investment choice than other super funds, with options such as direct property, managed investments and direct shares included.

The members of an SMSF must appoint approved auditors, and may also choose to involve tax agents, accountants and financial planners. However, the ultimate legal responsibility for the fund’s ongoing compliance rests with the individual trustees.

What are the advantages of SMSFs?

SMSFs offer a range of benefits, including:

increased control over your retirement funds and how they are invested;
wider investment choice than public offer funds;
the scope to use 100% of the fund’s assets to acquire business’s real property and lease it back to the business;
your SMSF can move with you from job to job;
may provide a range of options for estate planning and benefit payments.

What are the drawbacks?

Each trustee bears a high degree of responsibility to ensure that their trustee duties are performed and exercised in the best interests of fund members;
There is a risk of tax penalties if the fund becomes non-complying;
Running an SMSF can be demanding and time consuming;
SMSFs incur a range of extra costs, eg auditing of accounts, tax and regulatory return administration and supervisory levies.

Prestige Wealth Partners can:

Determine if a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) is an appropriate investment structure for you.
Establish your self managed superannuation fund and arrange for a trust deed to be prepared and a Tax File Number and ABN are registered for the SMSF.
Prepare and review your fund’s investment strategy taking into account your risk profile, income tax minimisation and estate planning preferences and possibilities.
Assist you transferring your benefits from your existing superannuation funds or overseas pension accounts into your self managed superannuation fund.
Help you minimise tax and maximise your superannuation contributions
Arrange pensions and lump sum payments from your SMSF.
Keep you informed of changes to relevant legislation and its impact on your self managed fund.
Refer you to an experienced SMSF with discounted rates

Speak to Rebecca Newton and let Prestige Wealth Partners help you maximise your superannuation opportunities.

For more information about self managed superannuation funds – and any other form of superannuation investment product – please download the Introduction to SMSF Fact Sheet provided by Financial Wisdom or contact Rebecca Newton using the form below.

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InScope May-June 2010: The China Story

Rebecca — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:52:00 +0000

The recently announced Federal Budget for 2010-11, which aims to have the deficit wiped out within three years, is in part based on assumptions that the China led mining boom will continue to benefit Australia for the foreseeable future.

In this edition of InScope from Financial Wisdom, we will look at how Australia’s trade links with China are currently boosting the economy and what may be ahead on China’s horizon.

Download InScope

Click here to download this edition of InScope (PDF)

Superannuation Basics: What you have to know

Rebecca — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 11:42:00 +0000

Superannuation is a specialised type of investment designed to help you accumulate a significant level of savings for your retirement.

To encourage you to save for retirement, the government provides special tax advantages for super investments.

Prestige Wealth Partners can help you maximise your superannuation for retirement whilst minimising your income tax.

Superannuation is extremely important for your future quality of life

Superannuation Frequently Asked Questions

What is superannuation?
Why is it so important?
How does superannuation work?
Who can contribute to superannuation?
How much super will I need?
What is the difference between a retail fund and an industry fund?
What is a self managed superannuation fund (SMSF)?
What can super funds invest in?
Is there a limit to the amount of super you can save?
I have lots of superannuation accounts, how can I consolidate them?
How is super taxed?
When can I access my super?

Rebecca Newton Financial Planner understands superannuation

For some answers to the questions above – download the Superannuation Basics Fact Sheet provided by Financial Wisdom – or contact Rebecca Newton using the form below.

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Rebecca Newton – Financial Planning with a difference

Rebecca — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 06:05:04 +0000

Rebecca Newton CFP

Prestige Wealth Partners is a small award winning fee-for-service financial planning firm based in Perth’s Northern Suburbs.

Rebecca Newton - Principal and Certified Financial Planner – established her practice in 2008 with the intention of providing very high quality ongoing financial planning services to individuals, families and small businesses.

Prestige Wealth Partners is proud to be a member of the Financial Wisdom group of advisers.