Are You Wasting 11% Of Your Salary? - Do Not Ignore Your Super!

According to a Vanguard study, 1 in 2 working-age Australians have either not made contact in the last 12 months or indeed never made contact at all with their superannuation (this includes just visiting the fund’s website!). This is a big problem, given how important it is to engage with your super as early as possible.
In this episode we break down the reasons why you should not be ignoring your super.
In today’s episode we cover:
- Why super is more than a financial product; it’s a means to achieve choice and comfort in retirement
- The substantial tax advantages of super
- How too many Aussies aren’t engaged with their super and what you can do to change it
Why super is the foundation of retirement, and the income required to live comfortably
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Thank you to Vanguard Super (www.vanguard.com.au/super/) for sponsoring this episode.
Extend your investment success with Vanguard to your Superannuation. Head to vanguard.com.au/super to explore Vanguard Super.
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[@larrygerry985]

Such an important discussion. The reality is that you need to really aim at 15% of your income for retirement

[@Heshhion]

Super or house with interest. These are the choices for most Australians now. I choose house, because even with super, you'll have to pay rent anyway and lose in the end..

[@TarikSammour]

I choose Bitcoin.

[@utdominator]

Max it out each year.

[@stevegabriel9188]

Interesting you mentioned defined benefit - I have a defined benefit acct with default super provider of my current employer,. I would love to transfer this to my other super acct where I can select specific shares, and have been getting 20% return ave over the last 5 yrs. However it seems almost impossible to exit the DB acct, or evebn just to choose where my super contributions go.

[@Threecharacterhandle]

It’s worth remembering that, of course “past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns” • How do your DBs compare to your 20% returns? • How sustainable, really, is 20% returns (my learnings on investing suggest they are very unlikely to remain reliable).

[@user-ti8px3mg3b]

I'd be very careful about moving out of a defined benefit scheme. Most DB accounts are based on a years of service multiple. The longer you work, the greater the benefit. It makes a huge difference to your final payout (a guaranteed figure). I am in a DB account personally and in the years leading up to retirement, my final benefit has rocketed substantially after growing very slowly initally. Talk to your fund or an independent financial advsor before you succumb to the temptation of moving super to a market-linked account whose benefits of higher returns might not materialize.

[@Threecharacterhandle]

@@user-ti8px3mg3b Yeah I’ve heard in the past that DBs are much more preferable structures and someone should consider themselves fortunate if they got into one today. There’s also the issue that they’ve not already been collecting super for however many years (presumably a significant portion of their career considering DBs usually are something earlier generations have and not younger people). I’m not completely familiar with how DBs work but if they’re unable to transfer a DB balance into a super account then it’d be entirely detrimental to try and start super now.

[@andrewwilson919]

No one is talking about fees taken by the fund managers. 66% over the lifetime of the account. Now thats a free kick. Super is a con.

[@quellfalconer]

Why don't you change funds to one with lower fees then?

[@andymacmac9151]

Which super fund takes 66% fee’s over the lifetime of the account?

[@TarikSammour]

Amazing to me that you are having these long term discussions without mentioning Bitcoin even once. Everything you mentioned (super, savings, housing) is systemically dependent on the viability of the dollar. Protect yourself. Own some Bitcoin in case that assumption fails, and AUD fails with it.

[@M.-.D]

A single investment category that few understand. I am a big fan of bitcoin but seen more people make a mess of buying/selling it.

[@AB-gu9ui]

If you need to convince people to engage with their super, then its probably not worth it. Invest in property, outperforms super 10x over

[@iDrive123]

It’s there whether you pay attention to it or not. Might as well put it where it will give the best returns.

[@AB-gu9ui]

@@iDrive123 Property is where you get the best returns. Super is 5-10% max, which is terrible

[@iDrive123]

@@AB-gu9ui You cannot put your super into property. But you can put it into Stocks and Index funds.