Article: How Do I Make Super Contributions?

06 Aug Article: How Do I Make Super Contributions?

In one of our previous articles, we discussed doing a ‘health check‘ of your superannuation Funds.

This article is going to discuss ‘how‘ you can go about it.

How do I make super contributions?

There are typically three types of super contributions: employer contributions, personal contributions and government contributions.

Employer super contributions

For most people, your employer must pay an amount equal to 9.5% of your salary into your super fund account. This is on top of your salary or wages. Over the course of your working life, these contributions from your employer add up, or ‘accumulate’, which is why they are known as accumulation funds. Your super money is invested by your super fund so you will earn investment returns on the money.

Employer contributions are based on your ‘ordinary time earnings’. For example, if your ordinary time earnings are $50,000 then you should be paid an additional $4,750 into super. Ordinary time earnings are what you earn for ordinary hours of work including over-award payments, bonuses, commissions, allowances and certain paid leave. See the ATO’s information on using ordinary time earnings to calculate the super guarantee.

Work out how much your employer should be paying into your super fund.

employer contributions calculator (link attached) or try…..

https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/calculators-and-apps/employer-contributions-calculator

Super contributions if you’re self-employed

If you are self-employed you are responsible for making your own super contributions, but they are tax deductible. See super for self-employed people for more information.

Personal super contributions

You can make extra contributions by:

• Salary sacrificing – Your employer can direct some of your pre-tax income into super. This will be deducted by your employer and sent to the fund with your employer contributions.  Your funds are ‘not’ taxed at your Employer but Taxed at your superfund @ only 15%.  This is great if you are sitting in a higher tax margin.
• Personal contributions from your pay – You can ask your employer to make personal contributions from the money you have paid tax on. Lower-income earners who do this may be entitled to government co-contributions. See super contributions.
• Bank transfer – You can transfer some of your savings into your super account using BPay or direct deposit. Ask your super fund for details but make sure you identify if it is ‘Salary Sacrificing’ OR ‘Personal Contributions’ as personal contributions are already taxed as wages & you do not want to be taxed again at the superfund which is what happens if you state they are ‘Salary sacrificed’ funds, these are taxed only at the Fund. (We will cover this a lot more in a future post).
• Super transfer – Transferring all or some of your super from another fund into your main super account. This is usually called a ‘Roll over’ of Super.

Bonus contributions from the government

If you put your own after-tax money into super, you could receive a government co-contribution, depending on how much money you earn. Lower income earners can receive up to an extra $500 by making personal after tax contributions. See super contributions.

If you earn up to $37,000 you may also get a ‘low income super tax offset’ of up to $500 from the government. You don’t need to add extra money to your super to be eligible for this payment. Both of these payments will be paid into your super automatically after you have lodged your tax return.

What happens to my super money?

Money in your super fund account is invested by your super fund. Most super funds offer a variety of investment options. These usually include pre-mixed options that will contain a mix of different asset classes, and single sector options such as cash, property and shares.

Your investment returns will impact how quickly your super grows so it’s important to choose an investment option that is appropriate for your investment timeframe and tolerance for market fluctuations. See super investment options for more information.

If you have more than one super fund you can combine them to save fees and make it easier to keep track of your super. Read more about consolidating super funds.

When you retire your super can be taken as a lump sum, a regular income stream, or a combination of both. If you choose to take your super as a retirement income stream, the money that you’re not accessing continues to work for you and earn interest. See income from super for more information.

When can I access my super?

If you retire and have reached your preservation age, you can withdraw your super. The table below shows when you can access your super, according to when you were born. Here are more details on how to get access to your super.

Understanding how super works can help you make the most of it, whether you are just starting out, are close to retirement or have already retired. Learn the basics and you can become your own super hero.

REFERENCE:

Moneysmart.gov.au. (n.d.). How super works | ASIC’s MoneySmart. [online] Available at: https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/superannuation-and-retirement/how-super-works [Accessed 31 Jul. 2019].