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<\/p>\nWant to help boost your retirement savings while potentially saving on tax? Here are five smart super strategies to consider before the end of the financial year.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
If you contribute some of your after-tax income or savings into super, you may be eligible to claim a tax deduction. This means you\u2019ll reduce your taxable income for this financial year \u2013 and potentially pay less tax. And at the same time, you\u2019ll be boosting your super balance.<\/p>\n
How it works<\/p>\n
The contribution is generally taxed at up to 15% in the fund (or up to 30% if you earn $250,000 or more). Depending on your circumstances, this is potentially a lower rate than your marginal tax rate, which could be up to 47% (including the Medicare Levy) \u2013 which could save you up to 32%.<\/p>\n
Once you\u2019ve made the contribution to your super, you need to send a valid \u2018Notice of Intent\u2019 to your super fund, and receive an acknowledgement from them, before you complete your tax return, start a pension, or withdraw or rollover the money.<\/p>\n
Keep in mind that personal deductible contributions count towards the concessional contribution cap, which is $25,000 for this 2018\/19 financial year (which also includes all employer contributions, including Superannuation Guarantee and salary sacrifice). Penalties may apply if you exceed the cap \u2013 so it\u2019s important that you stay within the limits.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re an employee, you may be able to arrange for your employer to direct some of your pre-tax salary or a bonus into your super as a \u2018salary sacrifice\u2019 contribution.<\/p>\n
Again, you\u2019ll potentially pay less tax on this money than if you received it as take-home pay \u2013 generally 15% for those earning under $250,000 pa, compared with up to 47% (including Medicare Levy).<\/p>\n
How it works<\/strong><\/p>\n Ask your employer if they offer salary sacrifice. If they do, it can be a great way to help grow your super tax-effectively. Remember salary sacrifice contributions count towards your concessional contribution cap, along with any superannuation guarantee contributions from your employer and personal deductible contributions.<\/p>\n Another way to invest more in your super is with some of your after-tax income or savings, by making a personal non-concessional contribution.<\/p>\n Although these contributions don\u2019t reduce your taxable income for the year, you can still benefit from the low tax rate of up to 15% that\u2019s paid in super on investment earnings. This tax rate may be lower than what you\u2019d pay if you held the money in other investments outside super.<\/p>\n How it works<\/strong><\/p>\n Before you consider this strategy, make sure you\u2019ll stay under the non-concessional contribution cap, which in 2018\/19 is $100,000 \u2013 or up to $300,000 if you meet certain conditions. That\u2019s because after-tax contributions count as non-concessional contributions \u2013 and penalties apply if you exceed the cap.<\/p>\n Also, to use this strategy, your total super balance must have been under $1.6 million on 30 June 2018.<\/p>\n Remember, once you\u2019ve put any money into your super fund, you won\u2019t be able to access it until you reach preservation age or meet other \u2018conditions of release\u2019. For more information, visit the ATO website at ato.gov.au<\/strong>.<\/p>\n If you earn less than $52,697 in the 2018\/19 financial year, and at least 10% is from your job or a business, you may want to consider making an after-tax super contribution. If you do, the Government may make a co-contribution of up to $500 into your super account.<\/p>\n How it works<\/strong><\/p>\n The maximum co-contribution is available if you contribute $1,000 and earn $37,697 pa or less. You may receive a lower amount if you contribute less than $1,000 and\/or earn between $37,697 and $52,697 pa.<\/p>\n Be aware that earnings include assessable income, reportable fringe benefits and reportable employer super contributions. Other conditions also apply \u2013 speak to your financial planner to find out more.<\/p>\n If your spouse is not working or earns a low income, you may want to consider making an after-tax contribution into their super account. This strategy could potentially benefit you both: your spouse\u2019s super account gets a boost, and you may qualify for a tax offset of up to $540.<\/p>\n How it works<\/strong><\/p>\n You may be able to get the full offset if you contribute $3,000 and your spouse earns $37,000 or less pa (including their assessable income, reportable fringe benefits and reportable employer super contributions).<\/p>\n A lower tax offset may be available if you contribute less than $3,000, or your spouse earns between $37,001 and $39,999 pa.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll need to meet certain eligibility conditions before benefitting from any of these strategies. If you\u2019re thinking about investing more in super before 30 June, talk to us on |PHONE|. We can help you decide which strategies are appropriate for you.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Important Information:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The information contained in this article is intended to be of a general nature only. It has been prepared without taking into account any person\u2019s objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on this information, NAB recommends that you consider whether it is appropriate for your circumstances. NAB recommends that you seek independent legal, financial, and taxation advice before acting on any information in this article.<\/span><\/p>\n Any information provided by the author detailed above is separate and external to our business and our Licensee. Neither our business, nor our Licensee take any responsibility for any action or any service provided by the author. <\/p>\n Any links have been provided with permission for information purposes only and will take you to external websites, which are not connected to our company in any way. Note: Our company does not endorse and is not responsible for the accuracy of the contents\/information contained within the linked site(s) accessible from this page.<\/span><\/p>\n *Information in this article is current as at 12 December 2018.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Want to help boost your retirement savings while potentially saving on tax? Here are five smart super strategies to consider before the end of the financial year. 1.\u00a0\u00a0 Add to your super \u2013 and claim a tax deduction If you contribute some of your after-tax income or savings into super, you may be eligible to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-general-articles","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1505\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}3.\u00a0\u00a0 Convert your savings into super savings<\/h3>\n
4.\u00a0\u00a0 Get a super top-up from the Government<\/h3>\n
5.\u00a0\u00a0 Boost your spouse\u2019s super and reduce your tax<\/h3>\n
Need advice?<\/h3>\n