If I had my life all over again, or even if I was a youngster like yourself, then I would be moving as much as possible into the Superannuation environment. So, yes, a smsf would be the way to go and once you turn your funds into "pension" mode, then you have no tax to pay. The age after which you can do this is dependent on your date of birth and between the ages of 55 and 60 years of age. Best to get advice on this, but I needed to google this myself.
I am well into retirement, a luxury I indulged myself in when I turned 50, although I did some part time work until age 55 and have never worked since. I have an Education Department pension which is non-taxable but it's a very modest amount given that I entered teaching in my late 20's and wanted and took early retirement.
For me, I have an extraordinary imbalance in the way my funds are held. Super fund = 11%. Shares and cash held in own name = 89%. (I have just worked this out, lol) I knew it was extreme but there you have it. My Super consists of shares which I moved into a commercial fund and they are predominantly boring blue chip banks, BHP, WES, WOW, etc. I don't interfere with them. They are paying me a pension (called annuity, I think) on the monthly basis.
I didn't anticipate this imbalance at all and, in the past two or three years, I have added considerably to this imbalance by buying a couple of shares which have huge capital growth on them. I don't plan to sell these in a hurry, that's for sure. Because these shares do not pay any dividends, then my tax situation is to-date working fine but shares paying franked dividends are paying pretty much all my tax liability, something likely to change if other variables alter within the next few years. By buying and holding these two extraordinarily successful shares, I now have been able to add to my total assets over and above the amount I held when I retired.
Easy enough for me to release some of this capital gain (on just a few of these shares bought more than 12 months ago) should I wish to have more funds. I am a single ex-teacher. I am quite self-indulgent re expenditure yet still managed this feat.
I got lucky. I wish you much luck and can't see why you won't succeed in the market, and enjoy the opportunities/options/choices which money can provide to you and your loved ones.
Having said that, I promise you I got very very very very lucky with one choice of share in particular. And went heavy into it as well. Herein, I had that once-in-a-life time growth which remains ........unrealized.
I am a woman, not that that should make any difference at all to anything but I like to be honest.
