It’s your money – here’s how to make sure it’s working hard for you Set and forget is not a smart option when it comes to super. SuperRatings insights manager Camille Schmidt tells how to make every dollar work as hard as possible.
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or many Australians, superannuation comprises an increasingly large share of their wealth and will be one of their biggest assets at retirement – often second only to the family home (for those who are lucky enough to own a property). Therefore, it’s important to take advantage of a range of strategies to get the most out of your super. With the new financial year upon us, now is an important time to check your super settings. Many Australians don’t take full advantage of the services and tools available through fund websites, yet there are significant benefits for members.
Selecting a good fund Selecting a good super fund, or doing some research to determine whether the fund you are in may be considered a good fund, is important. At SuperRatings, we’ve been researching superannuation funds for almost two decades and have developed and refined our methodology as funds become larger and more complex. We’ve done the hard work by considering more than 300 items – such as fund investment performance, how much they charge, insurance cover and costs involved – and then comparing and rating them. This information is available at SuperRatings Top 10. We also consider the advice services on offer as being crucial in helping members achieve their retirement goals. However, we continue to see only a small number of Australians accessing these services. The majority of funds provide education services to help make sense of it all, and we have seen a rise in webinars covering the basics of super and money tips as lockdowns become the new norm. Finally, we also consider governance of a fund to be important, as it ensures members’ funds are being managed appropriately. When selecting pension (or decumulation) products, there are some different features to those in the 16
YourLifeChoices Retirement Affordability Index™ August 2021
