Hi @contrabunta :) Yep, there are different options available,...

Hi @contrabunta

Yep, there are different options available, so lots to consider.
Our adviser initially recommended a WRAP product - here's the link to the Macquarie one - https://www.macquarie.com.au/wrap/f...dator-supplementary-idps-guide.pdf?cachehdr=0

I found it generally incomprehensible. Note that you must have an adviser to set it up and for the duration of the WRAP account. My thought was, why?

I think the entire financial advice industry was set up on the wrong premise: commission-based, which immediately appeals to human greed. I'm much happier with a "pay-for-service" model: you pay a trained professional $X to provide a service. When that service is completed, then it's good-bye, and if you want them again, then you pay some more bucks. No surprises.

We have the choice of using our adviser to set up our account/manage it etc., but we've decided to do that ourselves. We will continue to use him, when needed, for taxation advice, but we will look after the investment side ourselves.

As for fees, no-one wants to pay them but we all do. Our annual fee, which includes accounting, tax return and audit is about $800, plus another $259 for the ATO Annual Supervisory Levy (which all SMSFs have to pay), so about $1,100 p.a. all up.

But I think it's important not to get too hung up about the fees. More important is how are you and your partner going to manage this? I wonder how many self-managed retirees have blown their dough? From the link to your earlier article, about 50% of Aussies don't even know which Super fund they are with. It is scary stuff. Reading some of the HC threads just increases the concern. Definitely worth while having a long hard look and think before making any decisions. Worthwhile remembering too, that WRAP accounts and SMSFs etc can all be cancelled. There's nothing final about any of this