Reviewing Your Super Fund In The New Year

2019 is nearly upon us, and whether or not you make a habit of making (or gleefully breaking) New Year’s resolutions, periodically revising your superannuation options is definitely a good habit to cultivate. Your Super is your future, after all.

Since the weeks from Christmas to Australia Day tend to be quieter in the average office, why not take some time to ask yourself some important super questions.

Start Here

As an easy start, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) recommends ways of boosting your super. These include checking to see if you have any “lost” superannuation, discovering if you’re eligible for government contributions or investigating salary sacrifice options with your employer.

Perhaps a better place to begin, however, is to calculate how much superannuation you might need for a comfortable retirement. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has a planner to help you calculate your likely income needs in retirement, and similar calculators are provided by other industry bodies if you want to compare across the board.

When you have an up to date idea of what your retirement might look like, it’s time to look more closely at your current super situation.

For a start – what do you know about your current superannuation plan? Are you with some kind of industry or public sector fund, a retail fund operated by the financial services sector, or do you have a self-managed super fund (SMSF) of your own?

Next – how well did your fund perform over the last year, or several years? Are you happy with the balance of how and where your contributions are placed and the return they’re generating?

Then – do you find that your fees are reasonable, compared to the level of service and the returns you’re getting?

Once you have gathered information on these key points, your next question is – are you happy with the state of your super, or do you want to make changes, either within your existing super or with a switch? Most individuals are eligible to set up an SMSF.

What’s Next?

As an SMSF makes you, as trustee, responsible for complying with super and tax laws as well, you might need expert advice to decide if this is for you and how to go about setting one up.

You also need to beware of contributing too much to your super, as investing more than the set caps can leave you open to extra tax.

These are big questions, but important ones. If you would like to speak with a professional investment adviser about your superannuation for the year ahead, contact United Global Capital today on 03 8657 7640 or email info@ugc.net.au for a no cost, no obligation consultation.

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