Boost your super

The latest investment returns are great news for Australian super fund members, and for Australian super funds!

A popular question from SuperGuide readers is: what is the best-performing super fund in Australia? Using the term ‘best’ is dangerous in any field because it involves some level of personal judgement…

Since Superannuation Guarantee was introduced 22 years ago, the long-term return generated on the typical ‘balanced’ super fund account has been 7.2% a year.

Asking experts and rating agencies for Australia’s best-performing fund can be compared to the vain stepmother in Snow White asking the magical mirror: “Mirror mirror on the wall, who in the land is the fairest of all?”.

The median superannuation growth fund gained 12.8% in value for the 12 months to June 2014, according to rating company Chant West.

Australian and international shares delivered the biggest returns for the 2014 financial year (1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014).

For the 2013/2014 year, the concessional contributions caps for over-60s has jumped to $35,000, while the concessional cap for everyone else remains at $25,000.

In July 2013, the federal government introduced a temporary concessional contributions cap of $35,000 for over-60s which has been expanded to 50-somethings from July 2014.

Q: Where do I go to find a calculator that helps me work out how much co-contribution I will be entitled to, and how much super I need to contribute to get that co-contribution?

Q: Do you need to be 60 at July 1 or could you turn 60 any time in 2013/2014 to take advantage of the new $35,000 cap?