Clients will need both their accumulation and pension accounts to help manage their money needs when the new super reforms commence from July 1 this year.
SMSF Strategies principal Grant Abbott said the danger for many clients was that while they would want a certain amount of income a year, many would now have too much coming out of their pension fund.
This creates a structural challenge for clients and their advisers.
“The challenge from 1 July 2007 on the pension side of the fund is to give clients exactly what they need,” Abbott said.
He said many clients would require their accumulation and pension accounts to manage their superannuation.
In this model, the pension account will provide their lifestyle income for the rest of their lives and the accumulation account will effectively become the estate planning account.
“This is the way SMSFs are going to run,” Abbott said.
He said the change would mean more work for advisers and as a result they would need to charge their clients more fees.
However, he warned advisers not to become too confident over their knowledge of the new super reforms or to be tricked into thinking they did truly simplify it.
“Do not embarrass yourself to think you know anything about simplified superannuation. Do not ever shoot off the hip,” he said.
