Why You Should Care About Your Super
Need more motivation why you should care about your super? Caring about your super could make the world a much better place for you, your family and future generations.
Written by Victoria Kent, Senior Investment Specialist
This information does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the relevant investment is appropriate having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs.
We all like to take care of number one, numero uno, me, myself and I.
Is this selfish? Probably. But it’s human nature.
And like the air safety messages say: “Take care of yourself before you help others”. This is because if we don’t take proper care of ourselves, we are pretty useless to those around us.
Self-care is knowing your self-worth. Self-worth includes your super.
“But Super means ‘adulting’, and I don’t want to be grow up.” I hear you protest.
Being an adult can suck sometimes. Going to work every day, paying taxes — it’s enough to make you yearn for those toddler years.
Like it or not, part of growing up is about taking responsibility for your financial future, and this inevitably means caring about your super.
Need more motivation? Here are four reasons why you should give a hoot.
Your super is YOUR money
Stop, thief!
Imagine if 9.5c in every dollar you earned was being stolen by a thief who stashed it in a nondescript bag marked with a dollar ($) sign.
You’d be pretty interested in where that thief was taking your money, and even more interested in getting it back.
In this (admittedly) poor analogy, the ‘thief’ is compulsory super laws, and the nondescript bag is your super.
Unlike this analogy, when 9.5% of your salary goes into your super account, you are not being robbed.
This is YOUR money, and you do get to access it once you meet certain conditions of release (like retirement*). So, even though you can’t spend the money now, it’s still yours.
And that means YOU get to decide where the money sits and waits for you. Be that in a pile of gold coins Scrooge McDuck gets to dive in, or in investments which can generate returns while contributing to more a sustainable world.
Your super can impact the future of the planet
You would have heard this bandied about a lot recently.
It’s true: you do have power to financially support (or to not) companies that reflect your values.
It makes a lot of sense to align your investments with the future you want to live in. Whether it’s through impact investing, green bonds or share investments — your super money can help advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
Quality of boomer life
The amount of super you retire with will dictate the kind of life you will have once you retire i.e. whether you will have enough to live modestly or comfortably.
While this definition differs for every person, logically having more super means more flexibility when you are older.
Because of compulsory superannuation, you might already have a fair bit stashed away, which is fantastic. Even so, it makes sense to consider ways to boost your pre-tax super income.
Speak to a qualified financial planner or check out the various online resources the government has created to help optimise your super contributions.
Your super gets left to your family
Your super is not just for you.
Did you know that like any asset you leave behind in this world, your family may have a right to claim it?
Your superannuation death benefit can be paid to your dependents, or a legal personal representative, in which case it will form part of your estate and is distributed according to the terms in your will.
It’s good to know that when you leave this world, you won’t just be leaving your loved ones with your credit card debt, student loans and more junk than Marie Kondo can handle.
You can leave them with a healthy nest egg, too. Caring makes the world a more bearable place.
Caring about your super could make the world a much better place for you, your family and future generations.
*access to super benefits is subject to preservation requirements. A member may access preserved or restricted non-preserved benefits if they meet a condition of release.