Most of us have had more than one job in our lifetime.
If you haven’t been keeping track along the way, it’s entirely possible that you’ve left a trail of superannuation accounts in your wake as you progressed up the corporate ladder.
Figures from the Australian Tax Office (ATO) show that in June last year, 43 per cent of us had more than one super account.
Get your superannuation on track with these three tips:
1. Get your super in one place and potentially cut your costs
While it might not be the most exciting way to spend a Saturday morning, consolidating your super will awaken your inner Marie Kondo, not to mention may reduce the number of fees you’re paying.
It’s worth noting that annual fees for an $80k super balance for a 30–39-year-old taken from the Canstar database range from $450 to over $2,000!
That’s a big range and that could mean big savings for your super.
2. Make sure you are in the right fund and scheme for you
There are over 60 super funds and working out what fund is right for you can be a little less entertaining than coffee catch ups with friends.
But trust me, it’s worth doing an online comparison to help find the right product for you.
What’s more, it’s important to make sure that you’re in the right scheme.
Quite often super funds will place you into their default account if you don’t tell them to do otherwise.
It’s worth spending a bit of time to work out what might be right for you in the longer term.
In general, a lot of people will lean towards a balanced type of scheme as opposed to a more aggressive scheme, which can be more volatile, but if you have significantly more than a few years to go before you retire you might want to reconsider the best approach based on your future goals.
3. Maximise your super
In addition to employer contributions, it may be worth you making some contributions of your own to boost your super.
This financial year, those of you under 50 can make concessional contributions of up to $30,000, while those of you over 50 can contribute $35,000 in total.
Check the details with your tax adviser for your particular situation.
Tax advisers can advise on other ways to maximise your super, ask them about salary sacrificing a portion of your income.
Essentially this means it comes out of your pre-tax earnings so you may pay less tax on these payments than you do on your income, depending on how much tax you usually pay.
