Do You Need Assistance With Salary Sacrifice Amounts?

by Dominique Schuh

The Australian sharemarket remained in reversal mode, this time to the upside as a mid-session spike in iron ore futures boosted miners. The S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 0.6 per cent in morning trade, but it bounced to close down 6 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5714.2 as Singapore iron ore futures jumped 3 per cent. The Gold price plunged during the week to a 6 week low, presumably due to a "fat finger" erroneous trade, but prices have now re-stabilised. The Australian dollar also rallied along with miners, rising US0.3¢ to US76¢.

What this means for you:

The new concessional contribution cap of $25,000 kicks in July 1. If your current concessional contributions into superannuation are in line with the existing $35,000 and $30,000 caps (depending on your age) you need to make sure that you revisit your existing contributions come July 1 when the cap reduces to $25,000 for everyone.

This means that any existing salary sacrificing arrangements will need to be re-visited. If you need assistance with looking at your salary sacrifice amounts for the new financial year and learning about the new carry-forward rules for concessional contributions that have been legislated give us a call to make an appointment.

The Gold price movements during the week add further weight to the argument that investors shouldn't get caught up with daily price movements. Never fall into the trap of making a short-term decision on a long-term asset.