3 ways to help you boost your retirement savings
Not sure if you’re on track for comfortable retirement?
According to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia’s Retirement Standard, if you plan to have a ‘comfortable’ retirement, you’ll need need $545,000 in retirement savings if you’re single, and $640,000 each if you’re married or living with a partner. This will enable you to have things like private health insurance, household goods and clothes, air conditioning to get through winter and summer, nights out at restaurants, and occasional overseas holidays.
To help understand if you’re on the right track to achieving a comfortable retirement, the Slate Super app has a forecast tool to provide an indication of how much your super could be worth if you retire at the age of 67. Keep in mind this is an estimate only – everyone’s circumstances are different, and you may have other sources of income on top of super to support your retirement.
The good news is, there are things you can do today to improve your retirement outlook and we’ve got some tips when it comes to your super.
3 things you can do today
Consolidating your super
Do you have super accounts open elsewhere? If you do, you’re likely paying multiple sets of fees which could impact your retirement income in the long term. As at 20 June 2018, more than 10 million people, representing 64% of the Australians population, had taken steps to ensure that they now have one super account only^ If you haven’t already, you may want to spare some time to bring yours together.
Contact us and we can help locate all of your super accounts and you can then choose to combine some or all of them into your Slate Super account.
Salary sacrifice or make additional contributions
If your situation allows, you may want to consider making extra super contributions through a salary sacrifice arrangement with your employer. Salary sacrifice is when a portion of your pre-tax income is paid into your super account by your employer. Salary sacrifice arrangements are taxed at 15% which may be significantly lower than the amount of income tax you pay on your take home pay.
As the name suggests, salary sacrifice does mean a reduction in your take-home pay, so make sure you balance out the decision with your day-to-day financial needs. If your employer doesn’t offer the option to salary sacrifice, you can consider making tax-deductible personal contributions from your take-home pay.
Take your super with you from job to job
If you’ve done all the hard work to consolidate your super, you might not want to open another new super account when you start a new job, and start the cycle again. Remember, a new job doesn’t have to mean a new super fund.
Find out how to easily take your Slate Super account with you from job to job. No paper forms, no hassle – all at your fingertips through the Slate app.
