Financial advisers are focused on helping their clients navigate superannuation contributions, transfer balance caps, dealing with a death benefit and home ownership issues, according to the latest data from AMP Advice.
TapIn, AMP Advice’s technical service for its advice network, received over 6800 calls and email queries from financial advisers for the half year ending 30 June. Of these, over 880 were email queries received from advisers, up by 40% on the same period last year.
The last six months saw a significant number of queries on superannuation concessional contributions, including personal deductible contributions and the unused catch up concessional contributions provisions. Almost one in five questions received related to superannuation contributions and home ownership issues, whereas over one in 10 related to the transfer balance cap, means testing or TPD benefit tax issues.
Similarly, one in ten queries received involved dealing with a death benefit, treatment of assets and income, or condition of release or withdrawals. The findings are supported by AMP research last year which found most older Australians aged 50 and over find Australia’s retirement system too complex and nearly half don't know if they will be eligible for the age pension
While nearly one in 10 don't feel confident at all in setting up their finances in retirement to maximise their income, over three-quarters of those surveyed by AMP said they had not spoken to a financial adviser about planning for retirement, highlighting the importance of reducing barriers towards accessing quality and affordable advice.
In addition to concessional and non-concessional superannuation contributions, the most common topics raised by AMP’s adviser network for the half year ending 30 June included: innovative retirement income streams, navigating limited recourse borrowing arrangements as well as aged care.
AMP head of technical strategy and TapIn, John Perri said:
“The last six months have seen a significant focus on super contributions as more and more Australians look to make the most of unused catch up concessional contribution provisions.
“With the reduction to personal income tax rates and thresholds from 1 July this month, many Australians have benefitted from bringing forward deductions such as by making personal deductible contributions by the end of financial year for greater tax effectiveness.
“As Australia’s retirement system begins to reach maturity, instilling greater confidence in the ability of everyday Australians to navigate the important transition from accumulation to pension phase remains paramount.
“Through valuable services like TapIn, AMP Advice is equipping more practices with the support they need to navigate a complex and evolving regulatory environment – with plenty of resources such as our publications, webinars, newly-launched podcast and regular events for our network.”
“From explaining transfer balance caps to home ownership issues, our advisers play a critical role in breaking down complexity for their clients, helping underline the meaningful difference that advice can make in everyday lives.
