Kuan Tian on Superannuation, Shares, Investments and Tax

The following links are to videos by Kuan Tian.

How to make money in the stock market consistently! Index fund investing explained for beginners.

In this video Kuan backs index funds. He gives examples of VAS for Australia stocks, IVV for US stocks and IOO for the largest international companies.

Ranking the 10 biggest super funds | BEST super fund for index investing? (2023)

What is the best Australian Shares ETF for 2023? (Comparing VAS, A200, IOZ and more!)

Recommends A200, VAS and IOZ.

The ATO is CRACKING DOWN on stock and ETF investors. Stay safe with these tax tips.

Wow, I had no idea how much more work was involved with ETFs when preparing a tax return.

Top 3 ASX stock brokers to invest in Australian shares

Hassle-Free Investing: How to build a 100% automated portfolio for Australians.

This Common Home Loan Mistake Could Cost You $100,000 in Extra Tax

Be careful with redraw facilities, compared to offset accounts, as it could come with a big tax bill if you later rent your house out.

The SMARTEST Ways to Invest $2,000 Right Now in Australia! (2K Sub Special)

Why transition to retirement (TTR) pension strategies are so lucrative | Superannuation in Australia

Ultimate Guide to REDUCING TAX with your superannuation

How to reduce your tax with a personal super contribution. EVERY AUSTRALIAN CAN DO THIS!

How anyone can legally pay NO TAX in Australia (requires planning)

Basically, you don't pay tax on income from your super when it's in pension phase

How wealthy Australians exploit investment properties to pay less tax.

The negative gearing and CGT loop hole.

Australia's simplest Portfolio (VAS + VGS) - What they're not telling you

Invest in Super first, then make sure you also have a diversified portfolio with defensive investments. VGS does not cover emerging markets either. A200 and IOZ both have lower fees than VAS. So, keep the majority of the portfolio in Super, the portion outside Super should be diversified across stocks, the stock component should include access to the fast growing emerging markets and VAS should probably be replaced by A200 because of the lower management fees.

John Hewson has an interesting point on Superannuation

In Tony Abbott choked by lack of vision, not ideology Peter Hartcher interviewed John Hewson about the recent budget and Tony Abbott's performance. He made an interesting point about Superannuation:

What could the government have done to make the budget fairer? “I’m in favour of tightening the eligibility for pensions, but you should increase the pension payment for the people who remain, pay bigger pensions.
“And at the same time you look at pensions you have to look at superannuation tax concessions. It’s heavily skewed in favour of wealthy people.”
To get a $100 benefit from the superannuation system, a person with a modest income of $20,000 a year must put in $118, he says. A person on $250,000 a year must put in only $62.50 to get a $100 benefit.
“That’s a staggering inequity. If you had a more broad-based approach”, dealing with both welfare reform and reform to the generosity of tax concessions for the rich, “you’d have a much more defensible position”.

Pensions for all cheaper than Superannuation?

In Boost pensions to save on aged costs – no, seriously Michael Pascoe looks at the idea of boosting pensions to save on the cost of aged care.

Amidst all the talk of a budget crisis and the need to raise the pension age and cut welfare costs, it seems an utterly outrageous suggestion that we should instead give the pension to everyone and substantially increase it as well.

It sounds like the raving of some loony socialist determined to bankrupt the nation, but it actually makes hard, conservative economic sense and would save the budget billions. It’s just too bad that the federal government won’t have a bar of it – because the federal government is not the stuff of hard, conservative economics whatever their PR spinners might have you think.

The sting in the tail of the suggestion is that increasing the pension and removing any means test from it would come at the cost of scrapping the many tax breaks given to our superannuation system. It’s a brave, brave soul who would be game to take on the vested interests of a $1.5 trillion industry merely in the name of equity and protecting our longer-term budget outlook. And there really aren’t brave, brave souls in either side of parliament.

Will the Murray Inquiry deliver on Superannuation

In Inquiry's chance to be a super saviour Ian Verrender suggests that the Murray inquiry into the financial system has an opportunity to make our superannuation system more equitable and affordable.

Personally I don't think we should hold our breath.

Is it cheaper to pay the pension to everyone and tax super instead?

A number of reports are citing a paper by the Australia Institute arguing it would be cheaper to increase the pension by $5,000 a year and offer it to everyone in return for removing all tax breaks for superannuation.

Super tax breaks the 'Hindenburg' of the Federal Budget: Report
It's super tax concessions, not pensions that are killing the budget

Australia's increasingly inefficient and costly superannuation system

Mike Steketee has taken a detailed look at superannuation tax concessions in Unfair, inefficient and expensive: what went wrong with Australia’s superannuation system.

Superannuation and tax concessions

In The Global Mail Mike Seccombe has written an article about the tax concessions for superannuation to high incomers in Super Duped. He looks at the large amount of non compulsory contributions being made by high income earners taking advantage of the lower tax on salary sacrificed super.