Dear Ms Wise, I work for a global IT company, and I’m wondering whether I could use a family trust to distribute income to make my earnings more tax effective. I earn $270,000 a year and my wife and I are about to have a baby. A friend at a big accounting firm is in the process of doing this as she’s reached partner level. Could I do this as an employee? I’m also paying more tax on super contributions. James

The wisdom: The reason the trust structure may work for your friend is that some, or all, of her income is from the business profits of an accounting partnership, rather than a salary for her personal effort as an employee of the firm, says Walter Fleitmann, financial planner at Enigma Financial Planning.