Got offered some casual employment at my university. Uni had a partnership with UniSuper and they want me to set up a super fund there. Before I go ahead is there anything I should know about as not very experienced about super. I have done some reading online and do understand the basics now but anything I should still look out for? Obviously changing funds is not an option as it is enforced by uni. Thanks for the help guys!
Yes you do. As long as you earn more than $450 per month.
Oh yeah so ya do, my bad!
(assuming op is over 18 too, otherwise also needs 30+hrs/week)
just go with it. you are working part time and at the start of your working life (I assume). you can always transfer it to your preferred fund later.
I also casually work for a uni and use Unisuper, but I swear my balance is zero cause their fees are greater than what my employer puts in there….
Turn off / reduce all possible insurance to 0. You don't really need life insurance and all that crap that comes with most super funds, and they will charge out the arse for it. It is ridiculous how many people are paying hundreds of dollars a year for insurance they don't really need.
I luckily found this out early on working in retail and being forced to use REST. It probably saved me $500-1000+ over a few years until I switched funds.
I understand if you're older and might need the insurance, but a casual dishwasher needing income or life protection? Unlikely.
Unisuper is one of the best performing industry funds. You may actually find it advantageous to continue to use it after your stint with the Uni ends.
Tip from someone who worked in super for 3+ years
If you're not going to be earning much, give your super fund a call and cancel the automatic Life and Disability insurance that each new account comes with (unless you really want to have these insurances). There is a good chance that the insurance premiums + admin fees will eat up everything you earn in super and thats sad
I havent done a comparison of super funds in years, but I see that ING super has a no-fee super account. (i dont know how they compare performance wise, but no admin fees sounds allright.) Once you start accumulating a significant amount, the admin fees wont make as much of an impact as they are often set amounts per week and your (hopefully positive) investment performance will keep your super growing
Also worth considering is that Uni staff can put extra money towards their super and the employer will match it (up to 3% i think), which basically means free money (even though you cant touch it until you're really old)… i dont know if this applies to casuals, but its worth asking
Had similar circumstances to OP - have a UniSuper account and it's great. Go with it.
I was a university tutor and then did some work for somebody doing research. I have uni super but it is only small. As no contributions have been received for some time, I did get a letter recently saying that if I did not contact them to keep it active, it would be closed and handed over to the ATO. I would then become one of those people who have super listed and their whereabouts are unknown. The ATO would take a cut.
Therefore, remember to keep track of super accounts from casual jobs that may become inactive
You don't get super when working casual…