I am curious about how much money people have in their Superannuation accounts compared to their age.
Most of the money I have is from work but I have contributed a little as well.
I am:
28 Years Old
$25,000
How much money do you have in Superannuation (by age)?
johndowy on 30/05/2015 - 21:12
Comments
how did GFC affect the decision to contribute xtra
The GFC really pushed the share prices from the penthouse down into the basement, so thought if i contribute extra, i'll be able to get atleast get in on the ground floor and also get more units cheaply. Just looking at unit prices when Super used to go in during GFC was ~.75-.85 range, the same portfolio unit prices is now at about 1.02.
hmm doesn't make sense to me. not saying it's wrong or right. just doesn't explain it to me.
thanks for trying… im not clever with these things …Ok i'll try again….lets say each month $1000 goes into your super. The superfunds don’t split your $1000 and buy shares, instead they have ongoing funds (think of it like a basket of shares + cash) e.g. high growth, balanced, international only etc.
Now every month based on how the market is performing the unit price of that fund (which is derived from the basket of shares it handles) would determine how many units your $1000 can buy. The lower the unit price of the fund the more units your $1000 can buy.
….Are you still with me??Now, during the GFC when the share prices tanked consequently the unit price of the fund also dropped, which meant your $1000 could buy more units of the same fund. The reasoning behind contributing extra then was to simply get more units then.
oh yeh I see now. ty
@edwinlin88: Put it another way, he was using the fund to do what a canny investor would do in a downturn, buy low.
@greenpossum: yeh thought he was saying it was better than doing it himself
but he's not. he just chose to do his investing through super.
@edwinlin88: When you do it through super you are using pre-tax money, but of course you have to commit to not being able to access it til preservation age.
@edwinlin88: Yes thats right, Doing it through Super was easier (and cheaper) not to mention to DIY you'd need a fair bit of cash to hedge your bets and balls of steel to buy in a depression.
37 year old, my super account started when I immigrated to Australia 7 years back. No extra contributions, and its 75K now.
ditto my situation. :)
Bro :)
Mance :)
35 years old and with 70k now. Not sure how I am placed…
The real question to ask is, how much do you think you need to retire on.
That I'm not sure…….
Lots of online calculators at super sites, do a search. Put in your numbers and you get a forecast of how much you will have to live on at retirement, and then you can compare it with your expenses. Of course it's in today's dollars and the assumption is that the numbers will grow proportionate to inflation.
Thanks. Was hoping to have $1M in the super when I retire but no hope obviously :)
I will have only approximately $300K when I retire. Assuming I stay on the current pay. If anything higher will be a bonus…@k3nnis: There are several factors which might help. You may get a better job and be able to save more. After the house has been paid off and the kids flown the coop, your expenses will decrease. And in retirement, expenses are less. $1M (today's dollars) is a fair bit and would suit a couple, so you should then look at your combined super.
Thanks. Yes we have 1 child and if we combined our super it will be approx $600000 assuming our salary stays the same for another 30 years…..
21yr student with ~$6k
Why so many personal questions from people lately?
//puts on tin foil hat
My super is dismal for how long I've been working. I'm 20 years into my career and was lowly paid for the first 10 years but hitting my straps right now. Just put in the max $30k and will keep doing so from now until retirement. It's a marathon not a sprint.
i don't think age is as relevant as years spent working because people don't all start working at the same age. i've been working as an employee for nearly 9 years and have about $14k on "growth"
I dunno about that… the age question relates to how long you have to accumulate what you need to be able to retire…
That's assuming this post is about checking whether we'll be able to retire, rather than just comparing whose is bigger??
Again, retirement age will vary between us all and what age the government wants to raise it to is also a factor. I doubt I'll ever have enough in my super and will be working past whatever the retirement age will be when I'm a dopey old pleb lol.
Some people might have spent years out of the workforce for whatever reason — illness, care of others, raising children — and obviously for them it won't back as straightforward seeing if they'll have enough to retire
86yo - closed account
withdrawn balance and bought 20000 eneloop batteries
keep some cash in reserve, you need a big charger to go with it, any deals?
super went up a whopping 65% last year (on paper), got lucky with with Sydney property booming. Self Managed Fund.
65%, what fund?
self managed.
always better off to have your own fund, the returns on industry funds of 10-15% look good, but shocking compared to self managed funds, end of the day… its not their money… they really don't have to care (except when making commercials).
At what point is it worth having a self managed fund though, aren't their significant costs involved?
200-300k it becomes viable.
That's not to say that everyone who has that much should have a smsf. It's a lot of work to ensure you understand your investments, risk profile and compliance obligations. More work than its worth for most.
@sickllama: "More work than its worth for most."
well, you have to put it into perspective, takes me about a 2-3 days of admin work to make sure stuffs on track, paperwork done correctly. Now think about it this way, how many ozbargainers make 50 - 100k for 2 days work here? yes there are fees, dont get me wrong, i pay about 2k in accounting and audit fees each year, regardless how big my portfolio has become.
Pretty good return for 2k in fees and 2-3 days work when you think about it.
@strikerzebra: i think the "significant cost" argument is always presented by super funds. They don't want you to leave of course. The more of your money they have in possession, the more they can pay themselves fees and commissions. If you have a good think about it, if your superfund invested in Sydney property and it went up 25% last year, why is your return about 10% in the superfund. Surely it doesnt take 15% of the profit to administer your profits right? Maybe im seeing it in simple terms but since i did my own thing i have never turned back. I started with only 90k 4 years ago.
The largest time commitment is to education. I.e. If you're a doctor, you probably don't know much about investing. The people running active funds have several years of higher education specialising in finance.
The fact you hear so many stories of people taking their retirement funds outside of a diversified portfolio and buying a couple Australian properties (often in the same city!) and talking up how it's gone up more in the last year than the average diversified fund is concerning.
@sickllama:
Not really. It depends how you manage your fund and how you invest. It doesn't have to be so complex.Most SMSF I have come across the beneficiaries have tried to keep it simple by only investing in a single asset category (e.g. Australian real estate or Australian shares) and are not diversified enough.
To be honest they are often not sophisticated investors and to put them in charge of investing their retirement account is irresponsible, especially when taxpayers are the ones who will end up funding the retirements of those who stuff it up.
@sickllama:
I am not qualified to give financial advice so will not comment further on your advice. However, I feel that super funds do not act on the best interest of their members and sometimes act irresponsibly towards their members funds.My super earning hardly grow with them and same with most people I know. So I am surprised that a lot claim they are 20 or 30 something and have so much in their super.
What you're describing is a distrust of the industry. It's a serious problem the industry needs to address.
@strikerzebra: has doubled on paper in 4 years, was pretty hesitant to make the switch listening to all the stories, but sat down and looked at things logically and didn't look back. Everything pays for itself these days so no need to contribute extra.
You guys are too wise, I feel bit mysterious to my life now.
$70K at 34. Not much in my opinion. But looking at buying my 4th property this year. I don't want to rely on super money when I retire.
Over $20k and I haven't started full time employment.
Personally contribute if you can to get the Government co-contribution. I've earned thousands JUST from that.
good advice, especially for low income earners. it's free money!!!!!
I think once u go past a certain income u don't get anything
Hey guys,
U rkn it's better off throwing all my xtra money into my current mortgage (~4% p.a. interest) or into super??
I'm not interested in spending any time investing in other things, so those are my two options
according to calculators I found on google, it's actually wiser for me to salary sacrifice my xtra cash than put into my mortgage (assuming interest rates and salary remains constant)
paying more off the mortgage is a guaranteed return whereas super is not, unless you are in cash which is returning next to nothing at the moment. Every extra dollar to mortgage is less interest yo have to pay. A mortgage rate of 4% is equivalent to earning 6% or more gross, depending on which tax bracket you are in.
Assuming mortgage interest rates will stay around current levels is unwise. Those levels are some of the lowest in history. You only have to go back to around 2008 to see mortgage rates of around 9% and on average they are probably around 6% to 7%. At 7% paying down your mortgage would provide the equivalent of a guaranteed double digit investment return, which is hard to argue with.
hmm you're right. dammit just filled out my salary sac form!!! Better cancel it!!!!!!!!
hey but what about tax saving?… im salary sacrificing every dollar I earn over 80k … the portion that gets taxed 37%?
Yes you pay 15% tax going into super instead of 37% so that is a factor. I guess the investment risk v no investment risk is the key thing to consider. And who knows what the govt might do with taxing money in super in the future?
The other thing is superannuation preservation rules meaning you lose access to the super money until retirement. Paying extra on the mortgage, if you use an offset facility, means you retain access to that money. That can of course lead to temptation to spend it, so self discipline and the amount of it you have may also be a factor in the decision!
I'm SS anything above $80K because of the tax savings, I figured once I paid off the house, I'd probably invest the money anyway, so better off putting it into an environment where I'm paying 15% tax rather than 37% plus medicare.
There's limit of how much you can put in every year, so I'm better saving money at the top level each year and build the super up, than putting it in later and having too much extra money outside super (and paying a higher tax rate on the income than in Super)
The return on my super fund is higher than my interest rate, and historically if you hold investments long term they always increase in value.
@megamilinda: ya that's my thoughts too. I think I'll proceed with the SS. Can always cancel it when I need money or interest rates rise significantly.
80k p.a. is enough for my current frugal lifestyle and rainy day fund
Be careful there is a cap of $30k. Employer plus voluntary contributions can't exceed $30k. So on say $100k salary, employer contributions it's $10k, amount over $80k is $20k, so total contributions would equal $30k.
hmm thanks… i'll look into that… but 20k self contribution cap seems a bit low…
The cap is there to try and stop wealthy people hoarding millions in super where under current rules it is tax free in retirement. I don't expect those rules to remain as they are now that the mining boom is over and the govt needs more tax revenue. The super rule changes were a dumb decision by Peter Costello during boom times when he should have been banking revenue for when times got tougher, which they always eventually do. He's still somehow hailed as some sort of economic genius though.
20, student 3k
26, $40k.
40 yr old. $134k.
22, have about $2.5k. Have been at uni for the last 5 years so my super balance has come from a little bit of part-time work, personal contributions and government co-contributions on top. In the next 12 months I expect to push it up to over $10k at least.
- Migrated here 5 years ago. $55K. NOT making extra contributions, because I live in Sydney and need to save for a down payment.
140k 33yrs old, salary sacrifice about 5% per pay packet extra and employer pays 10%
$225k at 39. Don't put in additional and claim the maximum contribution base so that more is put in to salary than super. Would much rather have more salary that is taxed at a higher rate.
what do you mean by this "and claim the maximum contribution base "
see - below - once your employer has contributed about $19k in the year you can opt out of them contributing more.
http://www.superguide.com.au/how-super-works/upper-limit-on-…
$260k. 30. On MSBS Scheme
What's MSBS?
Military Super
25yo, $67k.
Working since I was 14, parents suggested I take advantage of the government co-contribution. I took maximum advantage of this until I was about 21?
You should be speaking to your financial adviser on how you can maximise your returns. There are many options when it comes to where your super is invested in. There are high growth(volatile) and low growth(less volatile) investment strategies. My adviser told me to put it into high growth port folio, whilst in my early career, and as I age put more towards the low growth but safer investments.
178k at 37… i have put heaps in the last 5 years, so i dunno how people have 200k+ at 35-40 and don't make any extra contributions.
Perhaps they make more money than you and have contributed the maximum for longer
"and don't make any extra contributions."
its maths. They have earned more than you for longer. They don't need to contribute anything extra -their employer is contributing based on a higher salary than yours. I have not contributed an extra dollar and at $225k at 39.
36 male. $185k.
Currently contribute close to the maximum allowed.$150K @ 38 - no extra contributions. Only the last 2-3 years I looked into it and moved my funds to higher risk/return funds.
i'm 32 & have 66k between 2 funds (been too lazy to combine ;/ )
No extra contributions, those in my family tend to pass before then!
29 year old 40k, all from work no contribution.
Has anyone setup their life/income protection insurance from their Super? I just saw that HESTA have an option for that and I just applied for it, wondering what are people opinion of that ?
My fund had income protection with a 30 day wait and 2 year benefit period. I took out a level policy outside of super with a 2 year wait and benefit until age 65. It was really affordable. I know I'll be covered until age 65 should I be unable to work
Hesta is not a good choice for super and insurance. Hesta has no default TPD but default income protection instead. However, the income protection definition after 2 years changes to “likely never work again” which is a TPD definition (read the PDS). Most people need an income protection policy that pays to age 65.
37 - 212K
Out of interest whats your income and employer contribution?
I'm top 10% income and 12% employer contribution and I didn't have anywhere near that at 37.
Im 39 now, same job, same contribution still no 1/4 mill.Cral42 - What is considered top 10% of income? I don't think I would be even close.
Salary slightly over 100K last financial year.
4.5% employee contribution
10% employer contributionVarious full time jobs since high school. Same employer now for last 12 years.
Super fund had good return last financial year (13.8%). My balance grew from 172K to 212K that year.
Hoping for similar growth this year..
24yo - $30k.
If you are young do NOT TRUST THE GOVERNMENT with your money.
Im not saying don't save but don't stick your extra money into super.
If you are 60 years old plus it might be worth the gamble.
If you aren't invest your money somewhere you can get it back when you want too.
My bet is in 30 years time when im allowed to retire, im 39 btw the government will look at your super and give you a pension depending on how much of your money you have deposited into their account.Other than your gut feeling, what do you base your loud advice on? The government pays the pension now based on how much money you have.
I agree with Cral42. I've got at least 40-50 years before I retire (they'll probably shift the preservation age to 70, then 75 then 80 eventually…
There's no way I'd put an extra dollar in if i didn't have to. Who knows… one day there could be a deficit tax on Super balances… bam… cash gone!
went to england in 2005, super balance 80k… returned in 2008, super balance 50k… cheers MLC, all i can say is i am not with them now and the super i have is wicked.
Let me fix that for you. "went to england in 2005, super balance 80k… returned in 2008, super balance 50k… Cheers GFC"
If you check the historical performance of the one you're with now, I'd be surprised if the outcome would be different.
GFC was a factor of course, but if you compare MLC to the rest of super funds, it blows.. i think its insulting they even advertise themselves.
if i had my current super fund it would have stayed even… still searching for figures…
Only way you could have stayed even was if you were in cash. Everything else took a massive hit (domestic and intl equity, property, bonds).
If you want to blame the fund for not investing you 100% in cash when you are the one with the choice on how it is invested then go right ahead…
26 years old $30,000
my super gone down 3k today alone FML
approximately 4,791,794.38 JPY
30 yrs old
Started working full time when 27, now 32, have ~$100k - been contributing extra post GFC.