SuperFund Talk (1 Viewer)

Katsumi

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Hi All,

Let's talk about what is possibly considered as the most boring topic on the face of the earth - Super Funds.

Who are you currently with? Have you ever looked into Super? What are your plans moving forward?

I'd like to create some discussion around the topic and see what everyone else has to say - I feel that it's a very important aspect of personal finance which is ignored by many :)
 

turntaker

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So grown up now
This is not the katsumi from 2015
 

eyeseeyou

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How much do you have in your super Katsumi (if you don't mind me asking)
 

Squar3root

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Who are you currently with?
cba -> since all my accounts were with them

Have you ever looked into Super? [/QUOTE]not really at all, I've looked around but I don't contribute enough for it to make a difference

What are your plans moving forward?[/QUOTE]start looking seriously into investing money/super once I get a more higher paying full time job


additional question: do you think it is worth worrying about super during your late teens/part time jobs? I personally don't think so because you're only going to be contributing like maybe 1-2k a year which isn't a whole lot considering you're going to make that same amount 6 months into a full time graduate job
 

enoilgam

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Who are you currently with? Have you ever looked into Super? What are your plans moving forward?
Currently with ANZ and very dissatisfied. Ive done some research but not enough, Im leaning towards an industry superfund. I should really speak to someone in the know just regards to whether it's worthwhile at this stage. Long term I would consider a SMSF and perhaps invest it in property.
 

Katsumi

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I've been researching Super quite extensively over the last week after seeing that my employer nominated fund, MLC, is charging me exuberant fees for dissapointing returns.

After hours of research i think i'll be going with Australian Super for my superfund

After spending some time narrowing down my options i ended up comparing Australian Super & SunSuper as they are, from my findings, the 2 most appealing & accessible industry funds at this point in time.

In the realm of management fees SunSuper has a definite benefit over Australian Super. The balanced package of SunSuper boasts an attractively low 0.47%p.a. management fee inclusive of performance fees. On the other hand, the balanced package of AustralianSuper charges 0.53%p.a in addition to a 0.11%p.a. performance fee - bringing the overall fee up to 0.64%p.a. A higher fee seems to spell doom and gloom for Australian Super yet when considering the average returns over the past 10 years the more lucrative fund is made evident.


(Retrieved from ChantWest Supper Apple Check: https://www.chantwest.com.au/)

In the area of administration fees Australian Super shines and greatly redeems itself from the aforementioned management & performance fees. Australian Super charges a flat $78 a year ($1.50 a week) regardless of the amount of capital you have under management. SunSuper operates on a model in where administration fees are not fixed and levied at $78 per year + 0.10% of your funds under management up to an $800,000 threshhold. To me, this was very offputing as while you will reap the benefits of lower investment fees with over $800k invested the eventual benefits do not outweigh the losses incurred up unto that point. This is made evident in the below spreadsheet where with $5,000,000 under management you will be putting an extra $35,800 into your pocket when opting with AustralianSuper over the competitor. Given this information it is important to note that the spreadsheet used is simple & according to after tax returns over the past 5 years, only representing fixed returns in a snapshot of time. The information used was only gathered from easily accessible resources including fund websites, product disclosure statements, investment guides & the Chant West Super Apple Check.



I feel that it's worth mentioning that the above 0.10% administration fee can have a big impact on a conservative investor who's main investment vehicles lie in cash (i.e. bank bills) & fixed interest (i.e. bonds) which typically hold low risk and low return.

While past performance is not a reliable indicator for future performance Australian Super has had better returns than SunSuper since fund conception and has a more consistent administration fee scheme. This being in addition to a greater range of options for investment and a more aggressive asset allocation that suits my needs (granted that i will be using the pre-mix 'balanced' option until i gain enough knowledge to be comfortable in trying the DIY methods). There are 1001 other things that constitute a good super fund and i've completely neglected the areas of financial advisory, customer service, taxation (and the tax breaks granted in a super enviroment), insurance and many others. I've also ignored the existance of anything but pre-mix investment options. This is as i don't know a great deal about investing and have no investing background. Yet this is what i could gather based on 20 hours of time, common sense & what's most important to me.

I can't see myself being a part of a managed fund in the long term and will more than likely move into an SMSF model down the track. Yet this is a complete other area of knowledge that i have to look into.

Also no hate to MLC Masterkey. My investment plan with them is much lower risk than what i will be moving to and it makes excellent use of financial advisers. Yet it's not suitable for my specific situation.
 

Katsumi

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So grown up now
This is not the katsumi from 2015
yeah kill me

How much do you have in your super Katsumi (if you don't mind me asking)
I do mind providing an exact amount. I don't have much though - I've been working on traineeship wages for 7 months and that's all my super constitutes

Currently with ANZ and very dissatisfied. Ive done some research but not enough, Im leaning towards an industry superfund. I should really speak to someone in the know just regards to whether it's worthwhile at this stage. Long term I would consider a SMSF and perhaps invest it in property.
It's well worth reading into. The topic itself is very fun once you get a grasp of it and it all stops becoming scary. IMO get out of your retail fund ASAP unless you're making good use of the financial advisory services that they offer. I'm definitely considering an SMSF in the long term.
 

Katsumi

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cba -> since all my accounts were with them

Have you ever looked into Super?
not really at all, I've looked around but I don't contribute enough for it to make a difference

What are your plans moving forward?
start looking seriously into investing money/super once I get a more higher paying full time job


additional question: do you think it is worth worrying about super during your late teens/part time jobs? I personally don't think so because you're only going to be contributing like maybe 1-2k a year which isn't a whole lot considering you're going to make that same amount 6 months into a full time graduate job
I suggest that you look into it - even if you spend an hour or two learning about what it is. The ASIC money smart site is bae and makes things really easy to understand and fun.

I think that Super is "Super" important (great pun i know) regardless of your age and income. It gives you a nice foundation for the topic of investing as it's relevant in the respect that you actually have money to invest. Let's face it - most people aren't going to be investing in bonds with an income of $15k a year.

Having a low income also has a few implications towards your super that can be used in your advantage or to your loss.

An example of a loss is that being in a fund with high administration&management fees will greatly impact the ability of a low balance super to get off the ground. Changing your fund to the right one early will also allow you to avoid exuberant fees relating to switching funds when you have a high balance.

An example of a benefit is that the Australian Government currently has a scheme called the "Government co-contributions" going on. This is cool as if you earn under $36,021 the government matches any additional super contributions that you make at a $1 to 50c ratio up to $500. Meaning that if you invest $1000 into your super the government will also put $500 into your super at no cost.
 

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Can I just jump in and say that whilst administrative fees/maintenance fees/flexibility in platform/customer service are all important factors, ultimately they are meaningless if the super fund itself isn't able to get you a good return. I remember those TV advertisements showing the comparison but it's not really apples and apples since part of that fee is paying a premium for the supposed expertise.

I'm with SunSuper on a side note. For the initial few years I set my portfolio to be aggressive and ended up losing much of what I put in, but in more recent years they've steadily beaten the market after I changed to balanced (ironic right?). It's nowhere near enough to retire off, but I'm fine with it as it's more of a treasurechest for me to open in 50 years time (hopefully to good news!).
 

wrong_turn

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I use to work as a Financial Planner.

I personally am with CBA GroupSuper. When I selected a fund I personally considered
- return on the investment option selected after taking away admin and investment fees
- personal insurance. Income protection was something I got when I first started working. Was able to get a level premium with a 30 day wait until age 65 for cheap
- industry funds are increasingly becoming a monopoly on the admin side. Link does a majority of it now and you're not really getting your worth there.
- not much choice in investment options in industry funds and can be utter ridiculous to change it in a timely manner.
 

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