Opinion
At last, Labor has a plan for legacy pension exits
After years of delay, the federal government has produced regulations that will release retirees from restrictive legacy pensions.
John WasilievColumnistQ: You recently provided a response to my question about a $1.8 million term-allocated pension (TAP) in an SMSF. I am trapped because the superannuation rules for legacy pensions have prevented me from rolling this to an industry fund and closing my SMSF. I understand the government has just announced it will legislate a change to the rules. If you recall I’m 74 and the pension, which is just within my transfer balance cap, has a term based on me reaching 100 years and is part of my $4.3 million total super balance. How might what the government is proposing affect my situation? Graham
A: In May 2021 the then Coalition government announced that holders of legacy pensions like yours should be given the option of quitting them under a two-year amnesty that would allow any balances to be returned to an accumulation account. Once there, they could be withdrawn from the super system or converted to an account-based super pension if you had space within your transfer balance cap, which dictates the sum of super you are allowed to have in a tax-free retirement pension.
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