Funny names add a splash of colour to self-managed super

WHAT does Shrek have to do with retirement? He is just one of the weird things people are naming their self-managed super funds after.

SPICING up retirement saving can be as simple as adding a splash of Aussie humour to the name of your self-managed superannuation fund.

BEWARE: Nasty balance transfer credit card traps

KOCHIE: How to invest in start-ups

Among the 600,000 SMSFs operating in Australia today are some clever, quirky and sometimes cheeky names. There is The Naughty Daddy Superannuation Fund, Spending the Kids Inheritance Super fund, the Super-Duper Super Fund or Shrek is Green Fund.

Shrek Forever After may have been a better name than the Shrek is Green Fund.

Of course, nobody starts a SMSF just so they can choose an interesting name, but if it’s in your plans anyway, why not think creatively?

Peter Townsend, managing director of SMSF documents provider SuperCentral, said many people gave their funds funny names “because they can”.

“People don’t trade under self-managed superannuation funds, they’re almost an internal structure for holding investments. As a result, the name of the fund really doesn’t get out there in the public domain,” he said.

Mr Townsend’s own SMSF is The Congaman Super Fund. “I used to play conga drums in a rock band in the early ‘70s and my mates used to call me Congaman,” he said.

Some fund names have a purpose or a retirement dream, such as Make Me Rich Super Fund, Kick Back & Relax Super Fund or I’m on a Boat Super Fund.

Chocolate Forever Superannuation Fund sounds like it would set you up for a tasty retirement.

Others have a whiff of grovelling — My Beautiful Wife Superannuation Fund — while some are just weird: Cat Lady Gone Crazy, Pooh Bear & Pluto, Angry Gnome, and Mystic Chicken.

You can see what’s out there, and perhaps grab some inspiration, at superfundlookup.gov.au.

SMSF names are revealed to the Australian Taxation Office and on some investment documents, and should avoid being obscene, defamatory, misleading, linked to royalty or government, or have the same name as an unrelated business.

Mr Townsend said it was a good practical idea to keep names short, don’t bother with “The”, use super instead of superannuation, and not use a name that was connected to your existing business.

He said it was relatively simple and inexpensive to change the name of a SMSF if you wanted to remove an embarrassing earlier name, or perhaps create a new funny one.

GETTING SILLY WITH A SMSF

Hot Chick Superannuation Fund

Funky Monkey Super Fund

It’s About Bloody Time Superannuation Fund

Cheese Wine and Sunshine Super Fund

Puppy Fat Superannuation Fund

Tall Poppies Superannuation Fund

Gray Nomad Super Fund

Chocolate Forever Superannuation Fund

Big Cheese Super Fund

Psycho Super Fund

Elephant Legs Superannuation Fund

Work Till I Die Superannuation Fund

Source: superfundlookup.gov.au

Originally published as Funny names add a splash of colour to self-managed super