More Australian families are establishing self-managed superannuation funds involving the parents and sometimes their children. This pooling of resources has tax and other benefits, but there can also some be some problems associated with the strategy, namely divorce. For families that stay together, there can also be unexpected tensions between fund members. SuperGuardian director, Phil Jaquillard, says the restriction on the number of members to four means one child may miss out if a couple has more than two children. Jaquillard noted that all members could potentially lose 45% of their super savings to the Australian Taxation Office for a breach of fund rules, irrespective of who was responsible. Different investment priorities can also cause problems in family funds.
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