Happy Birthday AJX....ASX 300, page-23

Hi Corn,

I've just recently checked those costs out, I found that the fees from my existing fund (all funds are different) compared to with what my accountant charges plus getting an external auditor (an SMSF will need to be audited yearly) as she can only legally do one or the other, even though she's qualified for both, are not that different, the costs only blow out if you need/get external investing advice etcetera (your super fund will already be charging you for auditing yearly, plus admin costs if applicable).

If you set up your own trading account through CommSec or such ( registered in the name of the SMSF with its own bank account ) and just have your accountant do your returns at tax time with an external registered auditor, its very comparative (the first year with set up fees will be a tad dearer, all these fees should be able to be paid out of the fund, the same way as they would most likely be now).

They will also advise you that they like to have a minimum of $150,000 to $200,000 in the fund to make it cost effective (this is not compulsory if you have a game plan to increase your super).
I found that to be BS when I checked out how much my fund already charges.

Everyone's super is set up differently, so this advice may only be ok for myself, but I would ask:

How much will it cost if I set my fund up with a relative or a sibling as my second executor and just use an accountant and auditor at tax time (once a year for your super fund), this also means you must be able to understand what the fund is doing during the year if you don't get external help ( you have a legal requirement/obligation to make sure you do the best thing for the fund).

I found in my circumstances there's very little difference in the annual costing and I get to choose where and what I invest in.

It can be like margin lending though, if it works it's great but if it doesn't then your up crap creek without a paddle.

This is only my understanding of how it works and I don't claim to be an accountant or similar.

But it's worth checking your existing fees.

Cheers.