Making the most of your super

Your super is probably bigger than you think

By the time you reach your 50s or 60s, your superannuation is likely to be one of the largest sums of money you'll ever have — often second only to the family home. But because you can't touch it until later in life, it's easy to set and forget. That's where a lot of value quietly slips away.

The good news is that the decisions that make the biggest difference aren't complicated. A little attention now — to your fees, your investment mix and your contributions — can add up to a meaningfully bigger balance by the time you retire.

Is your current super fund right for you?

Plenty of people are in a fund simply because it's the one their employer used when they started a job years ago. That's not necessarily wrong — but it's worth checking. Those who pay little attention to their super can find they're being charged higher fees than they need to be, or that the way their money is invested doesn't match their age, their goals, or what we'd call their "risk profile."

Over a working life, that mismatch can mean reaching retirement with less than you might otherwise have had. It's the kind of thing that's easy to fix once you know to look.

The things that quietly make the biggest difference

• Fees — a difference of even half a percent a year doesn't sound like much, but compounded over decades it can cost tens of thousands.
• Your investment option — most funds let you choose how your money is invested, from conservative to growth. The right choice depends on your circumstances, not a default setting.
• Insurance inside super — many funds include default life or income protection cover, paid from your balance. It's worth knowing what you have before you change anything.
• Contributions — what goes in, and how, is one of the few levers fully within your control.

Growing your super faster

Your employer contributes a percentage of your wage to super — currently 12% — but you don't have to stop there. Depending on your situation, you may be able to add more through before-tax (salary sacrifice) or after-tax contributions, and lower-income earners may be eligible for a government co-contribution or benefit from spouse contributions. There are annual limits on how much you can add, and they change from time to time, so it's worth getting the details right.

Lost or multiple accounts

If you've changed jobs a few times, there's a fair chance you have super sitting in more than one fund — each charging its own set of fees, and sometimes its own insurance premiums. Bringing them together can save money and make your super far easier to manage. Just one word of caution: consolidating can affect any insurance held inside those accounts, so it's worth checking what you'd be giving up before you close anything.

How we help

We'll help you understand what you've actually got — your fund, your fees, how you're invested, and what insurance sits inside it — and whether it all lines up with where you're heading. From there, we build a clear, simple plan to make your super work harder for you between now and retirement.