Do you want to save 28.21pm or 338.52p.a. on your Health insurance?

Do you want to save 28.21pm or 338.52p.a. on your Health insurance?

 

We just have & we suspect you will save more as we have top hospital only with a 500 excess.

 From their brochure

Your health and wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do

Our health cover does more than just pay our members hospital claims and cover for the ‘what-ifs’?

Yes, we provide all levels of cover, but it’s our unique Wellness Benefits that reward you for making a commitment to your health now and in the long run.

Within our benefits, some lifetime limits apply and benefits are calculated on a calendar but

here’s just a few options available that reward you:

• U p to $100 to join and maintain an approved weight loss program plus $100 when you achieve your goal weight

• U p to $120 per year for approved quit smoking courses

• Health coaching

• U p to $150 for “Step Into Life” classes

• Cervical cancer vaccinations

• U p to $150 per year for overseas travel vaccinations

• U p to $150 per year for regular check-ups with your GP when not covered by Medicare

Certain conditions and waiting periods may apply, so please be sure to discuss these with your health insurance adviser.

The Wellness Benefits do not apply to our Smart Start product.

Our history began nearly 170 years ago when Manchester Unity (MU) friendly society (Vic) was founded in 1840. Friendly financial support and services to members undergoing hardship in a time when there was no government social welfare.

We suggest you revisit what you have & how much you pay & this could make some savings for the Christmas stocking.
 

If you want to know more than please call on 07 3848 1088 or email

 & to help you we need your details to complete the online referral form

        name

• DOB
• address
• home & mobile no’s
• email
• preferred time & day of contact
• current provider & product

• we need this form signed for privacy reasons & we will also forward you the Health referral brochure which tells you more.

 John McAuliffe

“It’s a no Brainer’ & ‘we are on the Same page’

“It’s a no Brainer’ & ‘we are on the Same page’

Linda came to that conclusion some weeks after she wrote
 ‘  Hi John
I imagine you would have seen the paper yesterday where the lowest performing workplace super funds were listed.  Surprise, surprise mine was on the list as the 2nd worst performer.
I have emailed payroll and I am able to have my super paid into a different fund.  Do you think I should consider doing this?’
We summarise our conversation with Linda with
• You are now over 55, in fact our age.
• You could do what we have done ourselves , actually with 2 funds.
• You could reduce your largest fee which is taxx from 15% on earnings to ZERO.
• You could redesign your super allocation by tailoring it for you commencing from a model portfolio designed by asset allocation specialists.
• You don’t want the over flogged SMSF as you don’t want the responsibilities of a trustee especially when you are 70+.
• We will retain some funds in your existing super to fund your current life cover to age 75.
• When you have a choice of 300 funds & 300 direct Aussie shares why would you do a SMSF?
• As you are in fact over 60 your income from your redesigned super will be Taxx FREE.
• You can access your super as a lump sum after you retire.
• You can use the extra TAXX FREE income to
• fund more into personal super & maybe earn the government co-contribution.
• Or to subsidise the loan on a new car
• Or to use for your next cruise
• Or to use to buy gold when you are in Hong Kong.
• …
Do you understand that? Does that make sense.
Linda  answered when completing the application.
 ‘It’s a no brainer’ & ‘We are on the same page’.

We also discussed with Linda that we had been invited to a Tapas cooking class by a global fund manager.
The analogy was simple. The starter or the introduction  was ‘Who cooked or prepared the tapas better?’ –Phillip the fund manager or Greg & Jamie who are the chefs.
You are right.
So we demonstrated to Linda one component & a percentage of her asset allocation. I.e. her cash component & would she do better by using fixed term deposits only as the retirees & the SMSF trustees are generally doing?
You are right & Phillip presented this graph for ‘his’ fund to ‘out perform’ a TD only strategy by 5,500 over a 12 year period & starting with 10,000.
We could make this analogy over any component of her portfolio. Who is better to maximise her assets, Linda or the fund managers.
Yes they charge a fee which is all explained but the biggest fee is the difference between what Linda might achieve & what ‘Philip’ might achieve.

If you are similar to Linda then you might look at a similar solution to her problem.
You are welcome to call us on 07 3848 1088 or email or visit our websites.
You might also email  us for the Tapas recipes. With WOW telling us its nearly Christmas & nearly then the end of the year lets maximise 2012 today.

John McAuliffe

A resident paid a 2.1 million bond. Is that fair?

Mark Butler the Federal Aged care minister this week stated that he knew of a resident in Sydney who paid a 2.1 million bond to an aged care facility. He then asks ‘is that fair? It certainly doesn’t sound fair -in fact it sounds usurious as it was meant to do. What are these bonds that he is describing? They are accommodation bonds that residents may have to pay when they move into an aged care facility. We note from the 6 page document provided by the Department of Health & Aging that ‘ Residents requiring low care or entering an extra service place (at high or low level care) may be asked to pay an accommodation bond’ Yes Mark the bond as you know is a requirement and ‘ Whether a resident requires high care is determined at the time of entry to a permanent place by the evidence available at that time. Relevant evidence may include the assessment by an Aged Care Assessment Team, assessment by the aged care home if the person has been receiving respite care, and other evidence such as doctors' or hospital records.’ Yes. the government assesses the resident under ACAT. So let’s from the document also add An accommodation bond (bond) is an amount a resident may be asked to pay when they require low care or enter an extra service place. A bond is paid to an Australian Government subsidised aged care provider called an approved provider. The approved provider is the organisation that owns and operates an aged care home. A bond is like an interest free loan to the approved provider and, for a bond charged on or after 1 October 2011, by law must only be used for permitted uses. These permitted uses include: capital expenditure, refunding bonds, refunding debt accrued for capital expenditure and refunds, investment in particular financial products and loans for capital works or investment in particular financial products. A transition period to allow approved providers to prepare to comply with the permitted uses will operate until 30 September 2013. An approved provider may operate more than one aged care home and bonds can be used for capital works at any of their aged care homes. A bond can only be charged for entry to an aged care home that is certified as meeting minimum building and care standards. Information on a home's certification status can be found on the Department of Health and Ageing's (the Department) website at www.health.gov.au or by calling 1800 200 422*. An approved provider is allowed to deduct monthly amounts, called retention amounts, from a bond for up to five years. The Australian Government sets the maximum retention amount. For the current maximum retention amount see the Department’s website at www.health.gov.au or call 1800 200 422*. The bond balance (i.e. the bond minus retention amounts and any other allowable deductions) must be refunded to the resident or their estate within specified timeframes when they leave the aged care home. Yes Mark the facility must refund the monies minus 19,380* generally to the estate within 14 days of probate. Mark we would argue that this was as defined where you spoke as a ‘<b>sin of omission.’ It was mentioned more than once at the meeting that there would be ‘no scaremongering’. What is it then when the intimation was there? Mark also stated that an aged care facility asks all about your assets on application to a aged care facility. He compared it to the shop keeper asking you ‘what is the credit card limit before you buy’. Yes you have a choice to have the provider or the government ask you those questions. Helen who was here on Saturday stated ‘they even want to know the colour of my underwear’when discussing filling out a Centrelink disability application. She is so unhappy with the government that she even carries her passport in her handbag. That is a new one for us. Who would you prefer & just maybe it would be better for you to see us before you see either. How much bond may a resident pay? There is no fixed amount for a bond. The amount of the bond is to be agreed between a resident and the approved provider. Bond sizes can vary widely between residents in an aged care home as well as between homes, even in the same locality. A resident cannot be charged a bond which would leave them with less than 2.25 times the basic aged pension amount. This is called the minimum permissible asset value. This value is currently 41,500. For the full 6 page document you can go to the Department of Health & Aging or email us for it as all government sites almost need a licence to navigate them. Nikki wrote 3 weekends ago in the Week Australian ‘taking charge’ about her 99 ‘Nan’ who ‘did not go gentle’ into a nursing home. Nan says’ there’s no dignity in getting old ,Nik.’ Nikki summarises the event as ‘that extreme stress, at any age, is caused by a lack of control’. It is very often the event is urgent & you need advice within 3 days & hence early advice means more control. Who knows, Just maybe a 2.1million bond might be right for you. We must also thank to local MP Graham for inviting us there. We wanted to ask Mark the question “is the accommodation bond paid to the estate ‘ or ‘What happens to the accommodation bond?’ but they both had to go as ‘the Boss’ [their words] was in town. We thought ‘the Boss’ was the voter who turned up today to listen & heard everyone else. However, thanx Graham. Also we must congratulate Jackie who works for some government department who spoke at the meeting of ‘for all the bad stories you hear of in aged care there are many more good & happy ones.’ Our tec. David wrote today ‘Thanks John, You’re a champion. Regarding Dad’s do you think we have done enough or the right thing placing him at Bulimba? Respect your thoughts & opinions, David We replied ‘David its where we would go ourselves Well done’ Not that we are in a rush as we have to walk the daughter up the aisle first. You may find you have some control when you know more & you are welcome to call us on 07 3848 1088 or email us or visit our websites. >John McAuliffe

NRAS Opportunities in SE QLD

This is the latest Property Solutions Development and the only that contains NRAS. It is a mixed use development with a village atmosphere and integrated with Rail and Bus and located close to the airport and linked to the CBD via the new M7 Tunnel. We are running NRAS seminars and these are informative nights and we am certain you will enjoy the evening. What is NRAS? NRAS is a government initiative that over ten years will provide participating property investors with a subsidy of over $100k - tax free. NRAS is an abbreviation of the National Rental Affordability Scheme, introduced by federal and state governments. Essentially, investors that participate in the NRAS scheme, agree to rent their properties for 75-80% of market rent and, in return, receive tax-free government subsidies of about $10k per year for ten years - this far exceeds the extent of the rental discount. With subsidies of around $100k+ (while the subsidy is currently a bit under $10k pa tax free, it will increase in line with market rents), there is understandably considerable comment, and this has grown in recent months. Positive comment has (obviously) focused on how investors can benefit from the tax-free government grants. There is more on this below. But there has also been some negative comment, as might be expected with any initiative, particularly ones that might seem "too good to be true". For those concerned about the quality or price of NRAS properties, the recommended approach is the same as for any other property - obtain research. Like any properties, some NRAS properties are better value than others. The best are very good value (and they should be the same price as otherwise identical non-NRAS properties in the same development). Attributes of NRAS Properties NRAS will not appeal to those seeking the "cheapest" property in an area. This is because: - the government will not provide the NRAS accreditation unless the properties meet or exceed specified minimum quality standards, so there will typically be properties of lower quality that are cheaper. - the properties must be new, so they will naturally be more expensive than older properties - there is an additional (modest) cost to developers in going through the government approval process, which developers can reasonably expect to recover. - the properties will not be discounted, because they are in high demand from investors, and supply is limited (only 50,000 NRAS subsidies have been budgeted for nationally, and the rental demand is estimated by government at 1.6m) While investors should be prepared to pay a fair price for an NRAS property, they certainly should not expect to pay an unreasonable price, and do not need to. Comfort with NRAS can be found from reading the government-issued NRAS Policy Guidelines (over 40 pages) - for a copy email us Financial Implications. For those that are comfortable with the NRAS concept of $100k tax free over ten years, we have some of the strategies that we have been working with over the last year or so. The strategies revolve around how the NRAS subsidy can most effectively be utilised to benefit clients. The subsidy started at $8k pa and has increased in line with market rents. These differ across states, but in recent years the increase has been almost 6% per annum in most regions and the NRAS subsidy has now risen to a bit below $10k pa. You might therefore reasonably expect the total NRAS subsidy to be in the vicinity of $120k over the ten year life of the scheme, tax free. Not only is this additional income stream tax free, but it is also guaranteed, even if the property is vacant, thus reducing cash flow risk should the income stream be intended for other purposes. {Note that the subsidy will not apply if the property is vacant for more than 13 weeks of the year - however, this possibility is extremely remote because there are only 50k NRAS allocations budgeted for, they are not allocated unless they are in locations of excess rental demand, and the properties are in high demand as they are rented for 75-80% of market rent; in practice, the government-approved NRAS rental managers have a queue of eligible tenants waiting for a property to become available, so not only do the properties have very low vacancies, but the property managers can select the best quality tenants from an extensive list} In some cases on the property can be cash flow positive even before the NRAS subsidy is received (depending on the marginal tax rate of the investor, and the location of the NRAS property). We will discuss what is available at the seminar. This means the investor would have the full $10k per annum to use for other purposes. In other cases, while the pre-NRAS returns involve a cash outflow, after the NRAS subsidy is received there will still be surplus funds available. The Seminars on NRAS properties available will be held at Nundah on • Thursday 8th November @ 6.30pm • Wednesday 14th November @ 6.30pm • Thursday 22nd November 6.30pm • Sunday 25th November @10.30am • • and on the Gold Coast at Broadbeach • Wednesday 28th November @6.30pm You are welcome to call John McAuliffe on 07 3848 1088 or email or contact us through our websites.

NRAS S.E. QLD Opportunities

Welcome to call John McAuliffe on 07 3848 1088 or email