Is your super fund the most suitable fund for you? The best-performing super fund over the longer term is generally what everyone wants, but sometimes such information can be hard to find. You can find out how to compare super funds, where to find the latest information on fund performance, and how to discover other important features of super funds.
If you’re a member of one of the following super funds, then you need to read this article. Astarra Superannuation Plan, Astarra Personal Pension Plan, My Retirement Plan, (including subplans – Seagrims Retirement Plan, TIC Super, and Titanium Retirement Fund), Employers Federation of NSW Superannuation Plan.
Rating company, SuperRatings, expects the balanced options of Australia’s major super funds to deliver an investment return after fees and taxes of between 10% and 12% for the 2009 calendar year. More on this later.
Before I expand on this prediction, I want to explain how the reporting of fund returns works, [...]
If you have more than one super account then you are paying more than one set of fees on your retirement savings. By combining super accounts you can save tens of thousands of dollars in fees over your working life.
If you change jobs regularly or you have had part-time jobs while [...]
Note: Every three months, we update this article with the latest data on superannuation funds issued by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). This article contains the latest data available as at 10 December 2009. We expect APRA to release further data at the end of March 2010.
Unless you work [...]
Q: Hi, I am inquiring on behalf of my son who is unable to work at this stage of his life. It has been three years since he worked. He doesn’t have much in the fund and it is going down every year. Is there any way to stop the bleeding of his funds? [...]
When superannuation funds are delivering strong returns, you don’t see much written about the costs of investments, including the costs charged to member accounts by super funds. When returns are poor however, fees become more obvious. Along with investment performance, can be an important factor in determining the size for [...]
Q: My husband and I are looking to start a SMSF and roll our industry funds into it. We have been able to find sources for the set up, accounting and audit of the fund and are now looking for assistance on the portfolio. We have a share portfolio outside super and so have some [...]
In August 2009, financial regulator APRA released performance data on Australia’s largest 200 funds. In the August SuperGuide newsletter, we noted that the performance figures have received a lot of criticism from the super industry. I think the level of criticism is a bit unfair.
Rating agency, SelectingSuper has conducted some nifty research on the fees that super funds charge, and in generous fashion SelectingSuper regularly releases the highlights of this research for free access by the general public.
So, kudos to SelectingSuper and Alex Dunnin for creating the three tables that appear in this article. [...]
Asking experts and rating agencies for the answer to what super fund is Australia’s best-performing fund can be compared to the vain stepmother in the fairy tale Snow White asking the magical mirror: ‘Mirror mirror on the wall, who in the land is the fairest of all?”. The answer on one [...]
Individuals running DIY super funds now control 31% ($332.3 billion) of the $1.076 trillion invested via Australian superannuation funds. Ten years ago, DIY super funds represented one-tenth of all superannuation money.
The money held in DIY super funds, officially called self-managed super funds (SMSFs) exceeds the super money invested via retail [...]
A common and reasonable question is, what does a good super fund look like? Professional rating companies, such as SelectingSuper, SuperRatings and Chant West, evaluate and rate Australia’s largest super funds against criteria such as:
investment performance
number of investment options
fees
insurance
extra services, such as financial planning services and [...]
Hi - I'm Trish Power and I am the author of Superannuation For Dummies and many other books on super and investing.And guess what! This site, SuperGuide, is the only INDEPENDENT website for consumers on superannuation in Australia. Read more
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