Supporting Your Team

Last Saturday evening Status held its mid year staff and partners dinner. This is always an enjoyable evening and provides an opportunity to meet the partners of our staff in a relaxed and comfortable environment. Over the past 18 years I have had the pleasure of meeting some very interesting and talented people who have shared some inspirational stories about their lives.

On Saturday I met Robbie Carruthers, a man with an imposing frame carried with confidence and a commanding presence that suggested success rather than attitude. I doubt whether many of our readers would know of Robbie who at 23 years of age was a world class athlete claiming all three weightlifting titles in bench, dead lift and squat at the 1987 world weightlifting championships.

Between 1995 and 2003, Robbie was the Adelaide Crows strength and conditioning coach and even though the Crows went onto win back-to-back flags in 1997 and 1998, very few supporters would be aware of the vital part Robbie played in the team’s success. In sport, the accolades are usually reserved, publicly at least, for the players and coach but as we all know, whether in sport or business, success is usually the product of good teamwork, both on and off the field.

Unlike Robbie, not many of us achieve success at an international or national level, and what is truly unique about Robbie’s experience is the fact that he has achieved both, firstly as an athlete with the assistance of great support staff around him and secondly with the Crows as part of their highly professional support team.

It is a clichéd line but true that each of us has the capacity for greatness and, whether we are leading or supporting the team, our success is usually a reflection of the quality and commitment of the support staff we surround ourselves with or are surrounded by. When we learn to rely on the work of others, we are reminded of the importance of our own contribution to the success of the team.

Whether it is your own business, the company you work for, a charitable organisation or sporting club, all successful organisations share common characteristics including recognition that all staff, from the CEO to receptionist, are in fact support staff, and each is highly valued and performs important tasks integral to the team’s success.

So whatever you do, do it with total committment and to the best of your ability, and you and your team could also become the pride of South Australia and world class like Robbie Carruthers.

The end of the financial year is upon us so in this week’s edition of Status e News we take a look at Superannuation and provide some useful links to various Tax Websites for personal and business tax advice.

We also introduce two new “Employee Hot Prospects” and remind our readers that if you are looking for staff, please consider our Free Work Trials promotion for any of our previously profiled candidates, which can be accessed from the “hot chilli” link at right.

The winner of our Round 11 Footy Tipping Competition is also announced below.

Australia’s first superannuation fund was established by the bank of New South Wales, [now Westpac] in 1862. Following the introduction of the superannuation guarantee legislation in 1992, superannuation savings have grown from $183 billion dollars to more than $1.1 trillion dollars with another $100 billion expected to flow into super during the June quarter 2007, alone. This puts Australia second only to Japan in terms of investable superannuation funds and Australia’s superannuation assets are expected to reach $4 trillion within 10 years!

Put simply, the size of the investment pool is so large that superannuation managers will be forced to expatriate vast sums of money overseas to find value investment opportunities as domestic asset prices come close to exceeding fair value.

Apart from employer compulsory contributions, the key drivers of this phenomenal growth have been the strength of the Australian share market and economic growth particularly with respect to resources, baby boomers gearing up for retirement and greater flexibility and freedom to choose between funds and asset classes. In short, Australian’s feel they have greater control over their superannuation investments and are less inclined to scepticism about their money being there come retirement.

Education and technology has also played an important role in the success of the superannuation industry and as our financial knowledge and access to market information improves, more people are taking responsibility for managing their own superannuation through a Self Managed Fund [SMF]. SMF’s now comprise nearly a quarter of all funds and in the last two years the number of SMF’s has increased by 34,000 to 330,000.

But the real catalyst in superannuation becoming an overnight sensation as the investment vehicle of choice, was the announcement in last year's federal budget that superannuation benefits would be tax free for those over 60 from 1 July 2007, which is next Sunday! In terms of planning for a super future, understanding the legislative changes is critical. Some other key points include:

• Transitional arrangements on after tax contributions of up to $1 million by 30 June 2007. Haven’t got an idle $1 million lying around, well some people are borrowing the money and contributing it to super. A great strategy in some circumstances but get professional advice first.
• Annual limits on after tax contributions from 1 July of $150,000 per year or $450,000 every three years.
• Annual limit on concessional contributions from 1 July. Concessional contributions include those for which a tax deduction is claimed and includes salary sacrificed and personal contributions made by the self employed. From 1 July concessional contributions are capped at $50,000 but for those 50 years or older between now and 30 June 2012, the amount is $100,000.

There have been enormous changes to superannuation and everyone, regardless of age, should take the time to educate themselves about these because there are compelling reasons to be contributing as much as possible into superannuation right now.

It’s your financial future and it is up to you whether you make it super.

Tax Websites

The internet is a virtual repository of useful tax advice. Some of the better sites include:

• www.ato.gov.au The official site for tax queries. Tax rulings are searchable on-line and from 1 July 2007, e-tax will be available for download.
• www.business.gov.au This is a portal for business to register their trading name, apply for tax file numbers or ABN, register for GST, PAYG, FBT as well as general information explaining various taxes and employer responsibilities with respect to the payment of superannuation and record keeping
• www.taxinstitute.com.au On-line information and advice with links to an enormous array of products and services – some of it free

Ryan Smith
with Status’ Business Development Consultant-
Michelle Pollock