When the time comes to retire, we would all love to have peace of mind to know life after work will be comfortable. We all dream of having time and the money to enjoy the things we were not able to do during our working lives.
Yet many Australians do not plan for the future and have to rely on the Age Pension to help them through their retirement days. As we all know, a pension just about covers the basics and will not provide enough money to help us fulfil our dreams. So now is the time to boost your pension fund and at Complete Financial Solutions we have experts ready to help you come up with the best retirement strategy and investment plan for you.
One of the best ways to boost your retirement income is by making regular personal contributions to your superannuation fund. This is an effective way to secure your financial future and you can take advantage of amazing tax savings to boost your retirement funds. Yet it is important to understand these opportunities that you can take advantages of – and that is where we can help.
Australians are fortunate in that we are in a position to take advantage of generous tax incentives from the government. Schemes have been set up to encourage the public to invest in superannuation funds with contributions being taxed at 15per cent rather than the personal income tax rate which can be as high as 49 per cent. One of the ways you can take advantage of these tax incentives is through salary sacrifice and you can find further details on that strategy elsewhere on this website.
But you may also eligible for other benefits. These include a government co-contribution scheme when you make contributions after tax to your own super fund – or a tax rebate when making contributions to your spouse’s super. You can even save money on your tax bill by paying for your life insurance through your super fund.
The super scheme may be, well, super, but it can have its complications. That is where we can help. We have helped thousands of people over the years to help them plan for their futures and steer them through all the legal complications.
Some people find it difficult to know how much to contribute to super. And there is no right or wrong amount as it differs for everybody. But it is important to know that there are contribution caps set out by law which limits how much you can pay without additional tax applying. Again we can help you with that.
If you are an employee, by law your boss has to contribute a minimum percentage of your wage into a super fund on your behalf. This is usually around 9.5 – 12per cent, although this is subject to change. Or if you are self employed you can make personal deductible contributions to your super fund.
There is no rule of thumb to determine how much you will need to contribute to your super. This will largely depend on your estimated life expectancy and how much annual income you want to receive in retirement.
So talk to us at Complete Financial Solutions for all of your superannuation queries.
