Ask Paul: I’m tired of managing my SMSF, what should I do?

Hi Paul, what should I do with my self-managed super fund?

After many years running the fund I now wish to take a less active interest and enjoy my retirement rather than dealing with the fund.

Should I:
a. Drop my funds into a managed fund with low fees, set the allocation split and forget?  
b. Move into a low-cost indexed fund?
c. Rollover into a large low-cost super fund and shut down my personal fund?

Or are there other options available to me? - Craig

Exactly what I have been pondering, Craig! Like you, I've had an SMSF for a long time.

The name means a lot to me. It is "self-managed", so I need to be willing and able to do this. Of course, it requires time and effort.

The reality is that very few of us outperform markets. I certainly don't. But where the SMSF has been good is that I can tweak my funds towards higher-risk assets. This has worked well, but at age 66 my time frame and risk profile are changing. Equally, I won't have good mental capacity forever, so the time to simplify is while I can!

An SMSF is a complex beast and you can't do anything without expert advice. I certainly won't be doing anything without specialist SMSF advice.

The three options you outline are all fine; there is not much else sensible that is available to you. But your choice will depend a lot on your conversation with a specialist.

You certainly could simplify your investments inside your fund, but an SMSF is expensive to run and the fact is you remain responsible for the admin, such as tax lodgements.

I can't make this call for you, but depending on my own meetings with my SMSF specialist, I can tell you my preference would be to shut it down and move to a large, very low-cost manager with a global growth fund.

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