On Sunday 24 March 2013 NKH Knight participated in the RAC Bike Hike from Mandurah to Perth. RAC Freeway Bay Hike for Asthma is an annual event aimed to raise money for the Asthma Foundation of WA. All money raised go towards free community education sessions and clinics, training for health professionals and vital respiratory research. This year the event …
2013 FBT Update
What’s new in FBT? With the end of the FBT year in sight, the time has arrived to start preparing for completing your organisation’s annual FBT return. The past 12 months have brought about significant reforms which has made for a very long ‘to do’ list when completing your FBT return. We would like to take this opportunity to update …
Andrew and Jill Neale talk super
We want to thank our clients Andrew and Jill Neale for sharing their point of view with The West Australian on Labour’s proposal to cut back tax concessions linked to superannuation funds. To read the full article please click on the link below. West Australian Story
Self-Managed Superannuation Funds
According to the ATO around 2,000 Self Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSF)s are being set up every month. This is a great result and shows that more and more Australians are becoming engaged with their superannuation and are taking control of their own destiny. So why have they become so popular? The main reasons given for setting up a SMSF are …
Outlook for 2013
With all of the issues we had to concern ourselves with in 2012 it turned our far better than we might have thought in terms of investment returns and for those brave enough to stick with a diversified investment approach they were well rewarded with some of the best returns since before the GFC. 2012 in review – what were …
How much is enough?
The most common question I receive from those nearing retirement is “How much do I need to retire”. What do they really mean when they ask this? From years of experience I have come to learn that when asked the ‘How much do I need” question people really mean how much do I need to be able to maintain my …
When a bank is not a bank
The collapse of Banksia Financial Group has left thousands of farmers and other Victorians in regional areas facing a nervous wait to see what, if any, of their savings will be returned. Unfortunately the collapse is not an isolated incident and follows several others in recent years including but not limited to Westpoint and Australian Capital Reserve. Like several other …
Interest rates and your retirement plan
For those of you who planned your retirement as recently as 12 or 18 months ago it may be time to do your maths all over again. Lower interest rates mean you will need to save more to provide an adequate retirement and have made it increasingly difficult to get even a modest 5% per annum return on your money. …
Common mistakes of retirees
A retired client opted to take the advice of their family over mine. Apart from the small dent to my ego this also got me thinking about some of the common mistake retirees make day-to-day. All too often people head into retirement basing important decisions on the opinions of those closest to them rather than the advice of an expert. …
Employee or contractor?
When hiring, employers need to understand the differences between an employee and a contractor to avoid costly consequences. Many businesses get it wrong when determining if a worker is an employee or contractor because they are not ensuring the arrangements have been set up correctly. It is essential to get the decision right because businesses will face different tax and …