The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has stepped in to try and stop real estate agents advising tenants struggling to pay rent to withdraw money from their superannuation, warning that those who do so could face hefty fines and jail time for unlicensed financial advice against people’s best interests.

The letter states in part –

“Financial advice must only be provided by qualified and licensed financial advisers,
or financial counsellors, not by real estate agents who neither hold the requisite
licence, nor are an authorised representative of an Australian Financial Services
Licensee.

The Corporations Act imposes significant penalties for a contravention of section
911A. For individuals this can be a maximum of 5 years imprisonment, and/or a fine of
up to $126,000 (600 penalty units), and for corporations a fine of up to $1,260 million
dollars (6000 penalty units).

Tenants facing financial difficulty need sound financial guidance and potentially
debt counselling. Specifically pointing them to and recommending them to consider
the specific possibility of accessing superannuation is, again, likely to amount to a
breach of the Act.”

ASIC has written to real estate institutes, calling on them to pass on the letter to all members “as a matter of priority”.

A ful copy of the letter can be found here

Please contact Integrity One if we can assist you with this or any other financial matter.

Phone: (03) 9723 0522

Suite 2, 1 Railway Crescent
Croydon, Victoria 3136

Email: integrityone@iplan.com.au

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This information is of a general nature and does not take into consideration anyone’s individual circumstances or objectives. Financial Planning activities only are provided by Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd as a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 315000 of Integrity Financial Planners Pty Ltd ABN 71 069 537 855 AFSL 225051. Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd and Integrity One Accounting and Business Advisory Services Pty Ltd are not liable for any financial loss resulting from decisions made based on this information. Please consult your adviser, finance specialist, broker, and/or accountant before making decisions using this information.

There has been a lot to take in over the last few weeks with almost daily announcements on a range of things including help for business, the unemployed, those about to be unemployed, mortgage holders, renters, childcare, healthcare, superannuation, and on & on.

We are hearing from clients who are being pressured into raiding their superannuation accounts to pay for rent & utilities, mortgage holders uncertain on the impact of putting repayments on hold, people at a loss on how to navigate Centrelink to access much-needed help, & much much more.

Don’t go it alone – a problem shared is a problem halved. We are here to help.

Give us a call on 03 9723 0522.

Please contact Integrity One if we can assist you with this or any other financial matter.

Phone: (03) 9723 0522

Suite 2, 1 Railway Crescent
Croydon, Victoria 3136

Email: integrityone@iplan.com.au

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This information is of a general nature and does not take into consideration anyone’s individual circumstances or objectives. Financial Planning activities only are provided by Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd as a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 315000 of Integrity Financial Planners Pty Ltd ABN 71 069 537 855 AFSL 225051. Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd and Integrity One Accounting and Business Advisory Services Pty Ltd are not liable for any financial loss resulting from decisions made based on this information. Please consult your adviser, finance specialist, broker, and/or accountant before making decisions using this information.

JOBKEEPER PAYMENT

The Government has introduced JobKeeper Payment designed to help businesses affected by the Coronavirus to cover the costs of their employees’ wages, so that more employees can retain their job and continue to earn an income. Employers (including non-for-profits) will be eligible for the subsidy if:

• their business has a turnover of less than $1 billion and their turnover will be reduced by more than 30 per cent relative to a comparable period a year ago (of at least a month); or
• their business has a turnover of $1 billion or more and their turnover will be reduced by more than 50 per cent relative to a comparable period a year ago (of at least a month); and
• the business is not subject to the Major Bank Levy.

Eligible employers will receive the payment for each eligible employee that was on their books on 1 March 2020 and continues to be engaged by that employer – including full-time, part-time, long-term casuals and stood down employees. Casual employees eligible for the JobKeeper Payment are those employees who have been with their employer on a regular basis for at least the previous 12 months as at 1 March 2020.

How to Apply

Businesses with Employees

Employers can register their interest in applying for the JobKeeper Payment with ATO from 30 March 2020.Subsequently, eligible employers will be able to apply for the scheme by means of an online application. Eligible employers will need to identify eligible employees for JobKeeper Payments and must provide monthly updates to the ATO.

Businesses without Employees

Businesses without employees, such as the self-employed, will need to provide an ABN for their business, nominate an individual to receive the payment and provide that individual’s Tax File Number and provide a declaration as to recent business activity. People who are self-employed will need to provide a monthly update to the ATO to declare their continued eligibility for the payments. Payment will be made monthly to the individual’s bank account.

Payment

Where employers participate in the scheme, their employees will receive this payment as follows.

• If an employee ordinarily receives $1,500 or more in income per fortnight before tax, they will continue to receive their regular income according to their prevailing workplace arrangements. The JobKeeper Payment will assist their employer to continue operating by subsidising all or part of the income of their employee(s).
• If an employee ordinarily receives less than $1,500 in income per fortnight before tax, their employer must pay their employee, at a minimum, $1,500 per fortnight, before tax.
• If an employee has been stood down, their employer must pay their employee, at a minimum, $1,500 per fortnight, before tax.
• If an employee was employed on 1 March 2020, subsequently ceased employment with their employer, and then has been re-engaged by the same eligible employer, the employee will receive, at a minimum, $1,500 per fortnight, before tax.

It will be up to the employer if they want to pay superannuation on any additional wage paid because of the JobKeeper Payment.

The subsidy will start on 30 March 2020, with the first payments to be received by employers in the first week of May.

Businesses will be able to register their interest in participating in the Payment from 30 March 2020 on the ATO website

Please contact Integrity One if we can assist you with this or any other financial matter.

Phone: (03) 9723 0522

Suite 2, 1 Railway Crescent
Croydon, Victoria 3136

Email: integrityone@iplan.com.au

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This information is of a general nature and does not take into consideration anyone’s individual circumstances or objectives. Financial Planning activities only are provided by Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd as a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 315000 of Integrity Financial Planners Pty Ltd ABN 71 069 537 855 AFSL 225051. Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd and Integrity One Accounting and Business Advisory Services Pty Ltd are not liable for any financial loss resulting from decisions made based on this information. Please consult your adviser, finance specialist, broker, and/or accountant before making decisions using this information.

Unfortunately, scammers are taking advantage of the spread of coronavirus to exploit and play on the fears of consumers across Australia.

There has been a significant increase in email & telephone scams. Unfortunately many of them are very well done and often look very very similar to the emails and websites of official government and trusted organisations.

If you receive unsolicited calls, txts, emails etc, take care to validate their authenticity through alternative means before taking in action, especially if they ask you to login or provide information about yourself. The best approach is to assume all unsolicited communications are suspect until you validates then through a different channel.

The ACCC’s scam watch site is a good source of information and techniques on how to protect yourself against these scams.

Please contact Integrity One if we can assist you with this or any other financial matter.

Phone: (03) 9723 0522

Suite 2, 1 Railway Crescent
Croydon, Victoria 3136

Email: integrityone@iplan.com.au

Integrity One Facebook

This information is of a general nature and does not take into consideration anyone’s individual circumstances or objectives. Financial Planning activities only are provided by Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd as a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 315000 of Integrity Financial Planners Pty Ltd ABN 71 069 537 855 AFSL 225051. Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd and Integrity One Accounting and Business Advisory Services Pty Ltd are not liable for any financial loss resulting from decisions made based on this information. Please consult your adviser, finance specialist, broker, and/or accountant before making decisions using this information.

Our team sincerely hope that during these challenging times with the COVID-19 virus that you and your families remain healthy and that the financial impact of this ever changing situation will not be too difficult for you.

However, in response to the anticipated economic downturn resulting from the Coronavirus pandemic, the Federal and State governments have announced the first stimulus package to assist individuals, families & business cope financially through this period.

A summary of the contents of the package can be found here.

If you have any concerns or questions in regards to what this stimulus package means for you or your business, please do not hesitate to contact us on 03 9723 0522 to discuss this matter further.

We are all in this together no matter what and if there is anything we can do to support you and your business, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time.

Please contact Integrity One if we can assist you with this or any other financial matter.

Phone: (03) 9723 0522

Suite 2, 1 Railway Crescent
Croydon, Victoria 3136

Email: integrityone@iplan.com.au

Integrity One Facebook

This information is of a general nature and does not take into consideration anyone’s individual circumstances or objectives. Financial Planning activities only are provided by Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd as a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 315000 of Integrity Financial Planners Pty Ltd ABN 71 069 537 855 AFSL 225051. Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd and Integrity One Accounting and Business Advisory Services Pty Ltd are not liable for any financial loss resulting from decisions made based on this information. Please consult your adviser, finance specialist, broker, and/or accountant before making decisions using this information.

2020 is certainly starting out as the most challenging of years – it’s been a tough time for us all, what with the bushfires, floods and now Covid-19.

We wish to extend our best wishes and to let you know that we continue to be at your service, so please don’t hesitate to call if you have any queries.

Additionally we wanted to update you investment wise, in light of the extreme volatility we are currently witnessing in world share markets which have – in all frankness – affected everyone’s portfolio, whether invested conservatively or for high growth.

Short term ups and downs can be unsettling, but history shows that markets stabilise and recover – eventually. As your advisors, we want to assure you that we are not panicking and are trusting in the long term investment strategy we have agreed upon, to see us through this correction.

Over time we have endeavored to construct portfolios that are attuned to your long term aims and goals, are well diversified using investments that are well researched and that we believe, are ‘best of breed’ in their asset class.

In constructing your portfolio we have invested your funds across multiple asset classes / sectors which provide you with diversification. What this means is that your portfolio is not entirely exposed to the current market volatility that you will have seen in the news and this should help with reducing the impact of these turbulent times.

So as you can gather, we are recommending that all our clients remain invested, however there are strategies that can be employed to assist in limiting the stress your portfolios are experiencing.

Pensioners – You might consider dropping the amount of monthly pension being drawn from your superannuation to the minimum allowed under legislation – or deferring pension payments for a few months if your cashflow allows. This was a tactic we employed for some clients during the GFC which proved successful, as it allowed more capital to stay invested as and when markets recovered.

Accumulators – Rest assured that whilst you continue to add to your fund either via Superannuation Guarantee SG Contributions or your own additional contributions, you are effectively now purchasing assets at a cheaper price than 12 months ago. You might also consider adding more money to your accounts* although we acknowledge that may be only for the brave in these extremely volatile times and again depends on your cashflow. (*Some rules/limits regarding adding to further funds to super may apply, please contact us if this is of interest to you.)

So once again, please feel free to call your adviser to discuss any aspects of your portfolio’s or in regard to the strategies mentioned above. While we have curtailed face to face meetings for the moment, we remain available by phone, email, Skype … Facetime even! It’s very much business as usual.

We are thankful and grateful for your patience and understanding you have demonstrated yet again in these unprecedented times.

As always we remain at your service.

Please contact Integrity One if we can assist you with this or any other financial matter.

Phone: (03) 9723 0522

Suite 2, 1 Railway Crescent
Croydon, Victoria 3136

Email: integrityone@iplan.com.au

Integrity One Facebook

This information is of a general nature and does not take into consideration anyone’s individual circumstances or objectives. Financial Planning activities only are provided by Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd as a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 315000 of Integrity Financial Planners Pty Ltd ABN 71 069 537 855 AFSL 225051. Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd and Integrity One Accounting and Business Advisory Services Pty Ltd are not liable for any financial loss resulting from decisions made based on this information. Please consult your adviser, finance specialist, broker, and/or accountant before making decisions using this information.