Superannuation question

Discussion in 'Non Technical' started by Marklar, Sep 5, 2006.

  1. Marklar

    Marklar gruntled

    I'm changing employers at the moment and have started thinking about changing my Super. Has anyone done any research on Super funds lately? Like probably a lot of people, I have money scattered all over the place from changing jobs and not having a choice of fund. I want to pick a good one and gather up all the other randoms before I forget about them. Is there much difference between the major players?

    Cheers
     
  2. bigbaz

    bigbaz New Member

    I work in the Financial Planning Industry and i can honestly say the problem with most superannuations is not the fees, you need to be looking at investment returns, you see all these adds on tv about how much difference 1% fees make this goes the same way with returns which is why it is often better to have a financial planner manage your super rather than do it yourself, most of my customers are being charged around 2 - 2.5% on there funds, you can get funds as cheap as .5% but you need to be lokking at availabel investment options and returns and what sort of funds are suited for you to invest in, i can send you a bit of info from work tomorrow if you like
     
  3. Marklar

    Marklar gruntled

    thanks bigbaz

    I am only talking about the fund my employer pays into, so if that is still applicable then yes, send me some info, thanks :D
     
  4. red32

    red32 You talkin' to me?

    Whatever you decide, super is the way to go. I've been paying into an industry-based fund since 1964 (which meant that every time I changed jobs within the industry I was still paying in to the same fund), which enabled me to retire at the ripe young age of 55. I still work part-time, but even though I had $20,000 paid to me as an allocated pension last year, and withdrew an extra $10,000 cash, the account balance still went up by $12,500. With the currently rising interest rates, projected outcomes over a 40-50 year career suggest a fairly healthy fund balance (but remember, interest rates fluctuate up AND down over time... I remember that at one point in the mid '80's my projected balance was something like $2,500,000... never happened, because rates went down in the '90's))

    IMO, eventually the so called "Old Age Pension" will be discontinued, so we all need to make our own arrangements for retirement. The longer you contribute, at a reasonable percentage of your wage (6%, 9%), the better-off you will be. And there are benefits to be had NOW, because of tax deductions on contributions, contributions taken from wages BEFORE tax, etc. And note that the superannuation industry currently estimates that you will need a balance of somewhere around $800,000 at retirement to maintain a "comfortable" life-style.
     
  5. Shifter

    Shifter Active Member

    The problem is

    $800K now would be nice, but in 30-40 years, it wont mean as much because of inflation etc so we should aiim even higher. One thing you will also have to take care of is owning your own house. You dont want to be spending your pension paying of a home loan or paying somebody rent. Maybe own several houses so in retirement, people can pay YOU rent :)

    I remember seeing a list of the top 10 super finds one time on Sunrise. Number 1 was ARF. Cant remember the others but number 10 was UniSuper (remember that because i'm in it).


     
  6. Baron

    Baron Active Member

    Become a Politician. they really have their collective "Snouts in the through". But combining all in a single industry fund is a good start. Contact the one you choose, give them the details of the others and they will do it for you. Where in Mackay are you. I spend half my time at Moranbah, and my ute spends half of its life at the Mackay airport
     
  7. ZisLuv

    ZisLuv New Member

    I agree, I think government pensions will be long gone by the time I'm ready to retire also. I think they are slowly getting people ready for it to dissappear by the changes they have been making in the last 5 years.

     
  8. Marklar

    Marklar gruntled

    Thanks for the replies guys, I've got 3 weeks to decide or it goes to my employers default fund, AMP, so that should be plenty of time to make a decision.

    I'm in the "city" if you can call it that, off Shakespear St. I lived in Bucasia for the first 10 months or so (been here nearly a year).
     
  9. scump

    scump John Dorian

    mmm i dont know if i wanna put to much into my super while im young... im mean, im young, i wanna spend money while im young not old :D so ill wait till like early thirties then start pouring it in.

    if your that concerned make sure u take advantage of short temr offers. such as the one made earlier this year, where they offered 1.50ontop of normal payments per $1 u donated. so thats 2.50/your dollar. not to shabby.
     

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