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Home / How super works / Super for beginners / Super tips and strategies if you are in your 20s

Super tips and strategies if you are in your 20s

October 6, 2020 by Janine Mace Leave a Comment

Reading time: 4 minutes

On this page

  • 1. Check your employer’s SG contributions
  • 2. Decide if your super fund is right for you
  • 3. Consider extra contributions
  • 4. Find any lost super
  • 5. Consider combining your accounts
  • 6. Set up online access to your account
  • 7. Take advantage of free government money
  • 8. Review your insurance cover
  • 9. Evaluate your investment option
  • 10. Check out the First Home Super Savers (FHSS) Scheme

When you are in your 20s, retirement can seem a long way off, but there are some important things you can do to ensure your savings plan stays on track.

Paying a little bit of attention to your super now can have a big payoff in the future when you leave the workforce.

To help get you headed in the right direction, SuperGuide has put together a list of useful tips and strategies to consider in your 20s. Not every tip will suit everyone in their 20s, but our list is designed to help you start thinking about some of the super issues you should be considering.

1. Check your employer’s SG contributions

Ensure your employer is paying Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contributions regularly into your super account if you are earning more than $450 a month.

Your employer must be making SG contributions at least quarterly, but some employers can be slow to make their compulsory contributions and some don’t make them at all – particularly if the business is in financial difficulties.

Check with your super fund (or the ATO’s online services through your myGov account) that your contributions are being paid regularly. If not, ask your super fund to follow up with your employer, or consider reporting your employer to the ATO.

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Super tip: Given the tough conditions facing many businesses in the wake of COVID-19, it may be tempting for your employer not to give priority to paying your super contributions. If you have checked on your SG contributions and the company fails, you are less likely to lose your super contributions as well as your job.


If you plan to make extra voluntary contributions before 30 June to claim a tax deduction, ensure all your employer’s contributions (including salary-sacrifice payments) are up to date, so you don’t accidently go over your contribution cap.

For more information see the following SuperGuide articles:

  • Your simple guide to Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contributions
  • What is myGov and how do I use it?
  • What to do if your employer doesn’t pay your super
  • What to do if you exceed your contributions caps

2. Decide if your super fund is right for you

At this stage of life, you are probably in your super fund due to your employment arrangements – not because you actively selected it. As you are likely to be with your super fund for many years, it makes sense to check whether it’s the right one for you.

Consider features like what investment options it offers and how satisfied you are with the communications you receive from your super fund.

Compare your fund with similar super funds in terms of the fees you are paying, how your fund has performed over the past five years and whether you can get answers and quick service if you need help.

It makes sense to reassess your super fund every 12 to 18 months to ensure it still suits your needs.

For more information see the following SuperGuide articles:

  • How to compare super funds in 7 easy steps
  • How to benchmark your super fund

3. Consider extra contributions

When you start out in your 20s, your budget is usually pretty tight and there are lots of other demands on your salary or wage, but if you can spare a few dollars from your pay packet, it can make a big difference later on.

If you make extra small contributions into your super account now, they will have many years to grow and to benefit from compounding (or earning interest on your interest). This can make things a lot easier when you get to retirement.

For more information see the following SuperGuide articles:

  • Beginner’s guide to making super contributions
  • What super contributions are best for me?
  • Women and super: How to beat the odds

4. Find any lost super

If you’ve had part-time or casual jobs, make sure you know where all the super contributions made by your different employers have gone.

You can find and manage your super using the ATO’s online services through your myGov account. By linking the ATO to your myGov account, you can see details of all your super accounts (including any you may have forgotten about) and any of your super held by the ATO because it couldn’t be paid into an account.

For more information see the following SuperGuide articles:

  • The easy way to find and consolidate your lost super
  • 10 ways myGov can help you master your super

5. Consider combining your accounts

When you are in your 20s, it’s easy to end up with multiple super accounts courtesy of having several full-time or part-time jobs. So think about bringing them all together into one super fund to avoid paying fees on each different super account.

Tools in your myGov account allow you to easily transfer (or rollover) money you have in multiple super accounts into a single super account of your choice.


Good to know: Before consolidating your super accounts, always check with your fund to see if there are any exit fees, or if you will lose any valuable insurance cover. Some funds offer members insurance cover that can be difficult – and expensive – to obtain elsewhere.


For more information see SuperGuide article The easy way to find and consolidate your lost super

6. Set up online access to your account

With online access, you can take a much closer interest in your super savings and check in with your super fund at any time. It also means you don’t have to wait for the yearly or six-monthly statement from your super fund to see how your savings are growing.

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You can also find out more about how you super fund is investing your money and any extra benefits available through your super fund.

For more information see SuperGuide article 10 hidden perks that make your super account even better.

7. Take advantage of free government money

Depending on your income, you could be eligible for a government co?contribution into your super account of up to $500 a year when you make personal (after-tax) contributions to your super fund.

There is more free money on offer if you are eligible for the Low Income Superannuation Tax Offset (LISTO), which was previously called the Low Income Superannuation Contribution. If you’re eligible and earn up to $37,000, this is a payment of up to $500 from the federal government directly into your super account.

For more information see the following SuperGuide articles:

  • How a government co-contribution can help boost your super savings
  • How LISTO works (Low Income Superannuation Tax Offset)

8. Review your insurance cover

Most super funds offer members insurance cover for death, total and permanent disability (TPD) and income protection using money in their super account. Although this can be a cheaper way to get the insurance cover you need, it may not match the level of protection you require – either too much or too little.

It’s important to review your insurance cover to see whether your current cover is right for you – particularly as your circumstances change. A new partner, new baby or new mortgage could mean you need more insurance protection to pay your bills if anything happens to you.


Super tip: If you’re uncertain about whether you have insurance cover as part of your super account, you can check using the ATO’s online service with your myGov account.

If you want to know more about how much insurance protection (death, TPD and income protection) you have and the details of your insurance policies, you will need to contact your super fund.


For more information see the following SuperGuide articles:

  • Life insurance through super: A definitive guide
  • Insurance inside super: A definitive guide

9. Evaluate your investment option

Many people in their 20s are in their super fund’s MySuper or default investment option, but this may not be the most appropriate one for your particular circumstances. Super is a long-term investment, so you may be willing to take on a little more risk with a growth investment option (which has a higher percentage of shares) knowing you have a long time to ride out the ups and downs of investment markets.


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Some MySuper funds use a lifecycle strategy, which automatically increases the amount of defensive assets (such as cash and bonds) versus growth assets (such as shares) as fund members age.

Consider how your investment option – especially the MySuper one if you have not made an investment choice – is invested and how it has performed against similar investment options in other super funds.

For more information see the following SuperGuide articles:

  • How to benchmark your super fund
  • Super control: How to change your investment option
  • Super fund performance: Latest monthly returns
  • What are lifecycle super funds, and how do they perform?

10. Check out the First Home Super Savers (FHSS) Scheme

The FHSS Scheme is a government initiative that lets you save for your first home using the super system. With a lower tax rate on the earnings associated with your FHSS savings, for some people it may be a good alternative to keeping your savings in a bank account and it may help you to fast-track your deposit.

There are strict rules governing the FHSS Scheme, so make sure you understand them before signing up. If you are eligible, you will be able to apply for the FHSS Scheme online.

For more information see SuperGuide article How does the First Home Super Saver (FHSS) Scheme work?

Are you with a top performing super fund?

Click here to compare more than 90 Australian super funds, including returns, fees, features, awards and more.

Learn more about super contributions strategies in the following SuperGuide articles:

Capital gains and super: Using super contributions to reduce your CGT bill

March 10, 2021

What super contributions are best for me?

July 8, 2020

What is a re-contribution strategy and how can I use it with my super?

July 6, 2020

A super guide to understanding the bring-forward rule

July 1, 2020

How carry-forward (catch-up) super contributions work

July 1, 2020

Contribution splitting: How to boost your spouse’s super

July 1, 2020

How a government co-contribution can help boost your super savings

June 19, 2020

Why it can be a good idea to put as much into super as possible

June 1, 2020

Salary sacrifice and super: How does it work?

January 13, 2020

Making downsizer super contributions: 10 things you need to know

December 16, 2019

The pros and cons of investing your inheritance into super

August 13, 2019

Learn more about super housekeeping strategies in the following SuperGuide articles:

Life insurance through super: A definitive guide

January 18, 2021

Super tips and strategies if you are in your 30s or 40s

October 6, 2020

Super tips and strategies if you are in your 50s

October 6, 2020

Super tips and strategies if you are in your 60s or 70s

October 6, 2020

The easy way to find and consolidate your lost super

October 1, 2020

What to do if your employer doesn’t pay your super

September 18, 2020

10 points to check on your annual super fund statement

September 2, 2020

10 EOFY housekeeping tips for your super

May 1, 2020

10 key super fund fees: What are they and why am I paying them?

November 20, 2019

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Important: Disclaimer

All information on SuperGuide is general in nature only and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs.

You should consider whether any information on SuperGuide is appropriate to you before acting on it.

If SuperGuide refers to a financial product you should obtain the relevant product disclosure statement (PDS) or seek personal financial advice before making any investment decisions.

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