EverMore Partners

08/08/2021

Best online savings accounts!

17/06/2020

Common investors think like...

04/11/2019

Who gets access to my Facebook and Google accounts when I'm gone?

Good news is that you can decide right now by taking these two small steps!

Facebook

Go to Settings > Personal information > Manage account > Legacy contact (add someone)

Google

Go to Google Account > Data & personalisation > Delete a service or your account > Manage your plan (add someone)

Use these two simple steps to nominate a legacy contact (other than yourself) if your account remains inactive for 6 months or more.

After you're gone, your loved ones will often have no photos or memories of you unless they obtain access to your facebook or google accounts.

PS> Other social media platforms are working on similar setting functionality. Stay tuned.

21/08/2019

COMFORTABLE/SECURE RETIREMENT

According to the ‘Retirement Standard’ released by the Association of Super Funds of Australia (ASFA), if you can see yourself driving a reasonable car, wearing good clothes, drinking bottled wine, and holidaying anywhere you’d like to go in Australia with the occasional overseas flight to a destination of your fancy, then you’re looking for a ‘comfortable’ retirement lifestyle.

Assuming that you are of reasonable health and own your home outright, ASFA reports that a couple seeking a ‘comfortable’ retirement would require a lump sum of $640,000 in their super fund, and a single person would need $545,000. These figures assume that all capital is drawn down and retirees are receiving a part Age Pension.

Given that these figures are subjective and based on general assumptions, you could also do a quick calculation by assuming that you will need around 67% of your current income (two-thirds) to maintain your pre-retirement lifestyle.

How will you measure up?

25/06/2019

BEWARE Superannuation Changes from 1 July 2019

From 1 July this year, superannuation funds will be required to cancel insurance cover within accounts if the account is deemed to be inactive.

This is a consumer protection measure under the Protecting Your Super reforms, but it could also have the unintended consequence of Australians losing out on insurance policies, mainly life insurance, they thought they held.

The changes will affect accounts that are inactive for 16 consecutive months, unless the member contacts the super fund and elects to keep their insurance or make a contribution to the account.

This is especially the case for anyone with multiple super accounts. An account is inactive if it has received no financial contributions for 16 months or more. Please check your super account asap!

If in doubt, speak to your superfund.

17/06/2019

Estate Planning MYTH # 5

If I leave someone $1 under my Will, then they can’t make a claim against my Estate

Legislation in every State provides that the Court may consider an application made by an eligible person where the deceased has not made adequate provision from the Estate for that person.

It is therefore not sufficient to leave a nominal gift for a potential beneficiary under your Will. The Court is concerned with whether adequate provision for the beneficiary has been made for the proper maintenance, education or advancement in life.

If you are anticipating an Estate claim following your death, you should engage a specialist succession lawyer and articulate your concerns, so that all necessary steps can be taken in the preparation of your Will and associated estate planning documents, for example, memorandum of wishes, affidavits etc.

11/06/2019

Baby on the way?

While we completely understand the desire to put off making changes to your Will until after the baby arrives.

But NOW is the time to get it sorted (including incorporating a testamentary trust in your Will).

Once the baby is here, finding time to go back and update, or start, estate planning documents is the last thing you'll have time for!

We make it simple, easy and cost-effective.

03/06/2019

It is common for spouses to make mirror Wills to provide for each other and their children when they die. Often they gift their entire estate to each other, or if they die together, then to their children.

However, unless special arrangements are put in place, the surviving spouse is free to change their Will after their spouse dies and may not choose to leave the estate to the children.

This can happen if the survivor enters a new relationship or remarries, and that is exactly what happened in the Queensland case of Haggarty v Wood [2013] QSC 327. Here the entire estate went to the new spouse under a new will.

The children (i.e. son of the deceased) contested the Will but the Court ruled in favour of the new spouse. Further, the son ended up having to pay all the legal costs of the case.

Things could have been avoided back when mum and dad made their mirror Wills, by entering into contracts for mutual Wills with testamentary trusts.

17/04/2019

Superannuation changes from 1 July 2019 for small balance accounts.

A key change designed to limit the erosion of small super balances is that insurance (such as life insurance) will be maintained on an opt-in basis for inactive super accounts, defined as those that have not received a contribution in 16 months. Superfunds will be required to contact inactive members before 1 May 2019 to confirm whether they wish to maintain their existing insurance cover.

Superfund trustees will also be required to transfer all inactive accounts with balances below $6,000 to the ATO, which will then strive to transfer these balances to the owner’s active superannuation account.

If you have been maintaining a small inactive superannuation fund for insurance purposes, it is likely this legislation will affect you. You may have your insurance policy cancelled, or, if your balance is below $6,000, your policy is cancelled AND your balance transferred to the ATO. Neither of these outcomes is desirable if you are intentionally arranging insurance cover in an account separate from your existing active super balance.

13/04/2019

Life happens and so does death!

Business owners need to prepare for what happens to their companies in the event they’re taken out of commission by a sudden life-changing event — such as an illness or injury that leaves them incapacitated or debilitated, or worse. Even if an owner experiences a personal crisis that takes them away from the business for an extended period, it can have crushing effects on the company, especially without prior planning,

So many stories came across our desks about companies whose owners die suddenly and their surviving spouse have only a basic knowledge of the company/business.

The situation quickly becomes a “nightmare scenario” because the owner lacked any plan or instructions on what should occur or who should take over if something happened to them. As well, the company’s corporate documents and records are often not in good order. The resulting uncertainty leaves employees uneasy. Some begin looking for work elsewhere, whilst competitors see an opportunity to pounce.

“The business was really left vulnerable. Competitors were able to swoop in and pick off employees and pick off customer relationships. A lot of that could have been avoided" is often what we hear from the ones left behind.

“It’s easy to sweep it aside and say, ‘I’ll deal with that tomorrow. But there’s some false comfort in that because you never know when tomorrow comes and all of a sudden you’re forced into a sale, all of a sudden you’re in a corner.”

Failing to plan in business succession is often like planning to fail. Don't leave your legacy to fate!

12/04/2019

Where a Will has been properly prepared (by a specialist estate lawyer), a grant of probate can be issued in a matter of weeks and the Executor/s (person named in the Will) can commence the administration process.

On the other hand, Court proceedings to prove a DIY Will that hasn’t been properly made is likely to take at least 18 months to two years. This means your loved ones could suffer without the financial resources needed for an extended period of time. Not to mention the thousands of dollars spent on court costs and legal fees!

There is no certainty that a Will that hasn’t been properly prepared will be upheld. The Courts will not only look at the DIY document in question but also the circumstances surrounding the document, including your personal lives.

Your loved ones will have to prove what relationship they had with you to have any entitlement to your estate. In other words, your financial and personal affairs will be played out in a public court. Now, who wants that!

If the Will is not upheld, the default statutory rules of intestacy apply. These rules may not reflect your intentions, particularly when there are assets, superannuation and business interests involved.

So as we say, "Create your estate plan today! If you don't decide, the government will."

04/04/2019

In the movie, Manchester by the Sea, Casey Affleck plays Lee Chandler, a depressed handyman working in Boston. His brother Joe Chandler, who owns a fishing boat in Manchester, Massachusetts, dies.

In his will, Joe names Lee as the guardian of his son Patrick. You know there is a problem in the planning when Lee is sitting in Joe’s lawyer’s office reading the will and saying, “I can’t do this”. Lee had no idea that his brother had named him Patrick’s guardian. The lawyer stammered, “I just assumed that Joe discussed this with you”. Wow, is that a bad assumption!

This critical estate planning mistake is at the heart of the movie, and it is something that should be avoided at all costs.

Planning on who should raise your minor children if something happens to you is one of the most serious decisions you will ever be called upon to make during your lifetime. It should be well thought out and discussed with the person or persons whom you decide to name as your child’s guardian. Lee reasons that Joe didn’t discuss the appointment with him, because, “He knew I would refuse”. Knowing that the person you choose is likely to refuse is not something to be overlooked or taken lightly. Particularly, when Joe knows there are good reasons for Lee to want to refuse. The absence of any thoughtful family discussion leads to the tension which is vividly portrayed in the film.

So, by all means, watch the film, but do not emulate the estate planning failure which is at the heart of the movie. Persons named as guardians for your minor children, should not only want the responsibility but should also be made aware of your choice, well in advance of any tragedy.

Casey Affleck went on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance.

Manchester by the Sea vertelt het verhaal van de familie Chandler, een arbeiders gezin uit Massachusetts. Als Lee’s (Casey Affleck) oudere broer Joe (Kyle Ch...