Not sure what to do with your super? Here are eight ideas for making your next move.
In this article:
- Start saving for your home
- Earlier in your career? You could use the time on your side
- Find your super accounts
- Boost your partner's super
- Make extra super contributions to increase your balance
- Catch up if you feel behind
- Set your beneficiaries
- Downsizing? Consider putting your earnings into super
- Need more help?
1. Start saving for your home
If you think you'll want to buy a house one day, consider saving with the First Home Super Saver scheme.
It's when you make extra super payments you can later withdraw to help buy your first home.
Make sure you learn the ins and outs of the scheme and seek professional advice if you need it.
2. Earlier in your career? You could use the time on your side
Some people make a point of investing in high-growth super accounts when they’re earlier in their careers.
They're riskier, but because you generally can't access your super until you're in your sixties anyway, it's likely you'll have enough time to smooth out any rough market periods.
3. Find your super accounts
If you've ever had more than one job, you might have more than one super account, which means you might be paying more than one set of fees.
Here's how you can find and combine your super if you want to.
4. Boost your partner's super
If your partner’s income is less than $40,000, you could contribute to their super and potentially claim a tax offset of up to $540.
So, if one of you is studying, working part-time, or taking time off work, the other can still contribute to help square things up.
Find out about spouse super contributions, for married and de facto couples.
5. Make extra super contributions to increase your balance
Making an extra contribution to your super could help increase your balance.
It's a strategy Mick, 46, told us about in his Real Money Talk.
Mick was a self-described shocking saver in his early 20s, but turned it around in his late 20s, by contributing "just a little bit extra into my super."
By age 46, he had a super balance of $381,000, showing how small, consistent contributions can really add up.
Keep in mind if you decide to make an extra contribution, you’ll generally be unable to access it again until you reach preservation age.
6. Catch up if you feel behind
If your super balance is under $500,000 at 30 June, you can use any unused concessional contribution caps from the last five years and add extra to your super.
Check out the ATO for more specific details.
If you come into a windfall, such as an inheritance or lotto win, this could be a savvy way to stash it – although you'll want to seek personal financial advice unique to your circumstances, of course.
7. Set your beneficiaries
It's morbid, but if you pass away, you don't always have full control over who gets your super.
That's why it's important to set your beneficiaries - so your super trustee knows who you want it to go to.
8. Downsizing? Consider putting your earnings into super
From age 55, if you sell your home of 10+ years, you and your spouse can put up to $300,000 each into your super.
It gets pretty tricky, so check out the Downsizer super contributions page on the ATO site for specific information.
Need more help?
Super can feel overwhelming, so be sure to get independent financial advice from a licensed professional such as a financial planner or accountant if you're unsure.
You can also contact your super fund for anything you're unclear about.
