Home Equity Release: Tax Advantages of Life Estates

Unlock a Home for Life and an Income for Life with Life Estate

As an Australian retiree, you’ve worked hard to own your home. But have you considered how to make the most of this valuable asset in your golden years? At Life Estate, we’re passionate about helping you unlock the potential of your property to fund the retirement you deserve.

A Smarter Way to Release Home Equity

Our innovative approach to home equity release allows you to sell your property to an investor while retaining a life interest in the property. This means you can stay in (and own) your home for life with no additional rents, fees or charges whilst maximising the amount of equity released from it via a sale agreement to one of our accredited investors.

Supercharge Your Retirement with the Super Downsizer Scheme

But that’s not all. By partnering with us to sell your home and retain a life estate, you can also take advantage of the Australian government’s Super Downsizer Scheme. This initiative allows singles to contribute up to $300,000 (or $600,000 for couples) from the sale of your property into your superannuation fund.  These are non-concessional contributions however they do not count towards the contribution cap.

Tax-Free Income for Life

Once the funds are in your super account, you can invest them to generate a tax-free income stream in retirement. Alternatively, you can use the funds in your super to purchase a lifetime annuity, guaranteeing a tax-free income for life. Imagine having the peace of mind that comes with knowing your retirement is secure.

A Home for Life, and an Income for Life

With Life Estate, you can have the best of both worlds. Our unique approach allows you to:

• Maintain Security: Stay in your with ownership for life registered on title and no risk of eviction,
• Unlock Equity: Receive a maximised lump sum equity release from the sale of your property,
• Invest Intelligently: Top up your super fund by making contributions via the Super Downsizer Scheme, and
• Retire Comfortably: Use your super investments to generate a tax-free income stream for life.

How Other Forms of Home Equity Release Compare

• Downsizing: You are eligible to make super downsizer scheme contributions and generate tax free income from equity released if you downsize into a cheaper home.
• Reverse Mortgages: You are not eligible to make super downsizer scheme contributions and generate tax free income from equity released using a reverse mortgage.
• Home Reversion: You are eligible to make super downsizer scheme contributions and generate tax free income from equity released via a home reversion, however as home reversion usually provides smaller to medium sized lump sums of capital and the scheme only allows for a single lifetime contribution you may not be able to fully take advantage of it with this solution.

For more information on how the super downsizer scheme works and/or your eligibility please refer to the ATO’s information on the scheme here. Additionally, we always encourage you to discuss your situation with family and/or seek advice from a licensed professional to ensure any decisions you make for your retirement are aligned with your goals.