Articles

Realise Your Dream

The Realise Your Dream blogs are written by Peter Kelly and Mark Teale.

Peter provides technical advice to financial advisers and accountants on superannuation, retirement planning and estate planning. He also has extensive knowledge in all aspects of self-managed superannuation funds and is a regular presenter at conferences, seminars and workshops. He is Manager; Technical Advice with Centrepoint Alliance Limited.

Mark has a great deal of experience, having worked for the Department of Social Security and Centrelink as a Financial Information Service Officer and Regional Manager for close to 25 years and for the last 15 years, he has worked for Centrepoint Alliance as Research, Paraplanning and Product Manager. He now works alongside PK as a Manager; Technical Advice part of the Centrepoint Technical team.

Naturally, his specialties lay in the areas of Aged Care, Centrelink and Veteran's Affairs and pushing people to realise that you are never too old to set yourself a challenge yourself.

19 June, 2019

Retirement - exciting and a little scary?

In a couple of months, I will turn 63, a year closer to my retirement. The realisation that I am closer to my retirement is very exciting. The thought of being able to start to live my actual retirement plans is quietly intoxicating. To this end over the last 10...

12 June, 2019

What is it like to live in poverty?

I have been putting off writing this blog for a while but somehow, I feel there is a story here that needs to be told. I recently heard of a lady in her late 50’s saying how hard it is to survive on social security benefits. In this case, the...

05 June, 2019

Powers of Attorney – A quick lesson and overview

A power of attorney is a formal document giving another person the authority to make personal and/or financial decisions on your behalf. There are two types of powers of attorney General power of attorney Enduring power of attorney The main difference between the two is that an enduring power of...

29 May, 2019

Winter – colder and darker – a blessing?

For some people Winter can come as a relief after a long and hot summer – not me. I am not saying I don’t enjoy the change in season. I am just not a fan of the downside to winter – the fall in temperature and the fact that the...

22 May, 2019

What does the election result mean for our super?

Against the odds and the predictions of both pre-election polling and the commentary of so many media “experts”, the Coalition looks set to return to government following the 18 May Federal Election. This result was not expected, and I am sure many readers were preparing for significant changes to tax,...

15 May, 2019

I just got a confusing letter from my super fund

In May 2019, superannuation fund trustees started writing to selected members of their funds informing them the insurance cover held in their super account may be cancelled. This can have serious consequences for fund members if not addressed promptly. The action being taken by the super funds is as a...