Superannuation is something that affects everyone in Australia, helping every Australian to save for retirement in a tax-effective environment, but there’s a catch – you can only access it when you retire (with a few exceptions). Employers are required to make contributions to this fund as part of your regular wages, with a minimum of 9.5% required as part of the “Superannuation Guarantee” (SG) scheme. The way these funds typically work is that your superannuation contributions are added to a pool, which is contributed to by the rest of the fund’s members then invested as a bulk sum under the watchful eye of the fund’s investment managers

You have many options when it comes to Super Funds – between Retail Funds, Employer Funds, Industry Funds and SMSFs, there are a multitude of providers with vastly different offerings. You will need to consider your choice of investments, fees charged, insurance options and premiums as well as the long term investment performance of the fund. The best way to do this is to shop around, as well as getting in touch with an adviser that can help you review your financial position.

To change or choose a fund, you will need to fill out a Choice form, provided either by the ATO, your employer or the super fund in question. Fill this form out with details of the fund you wish to join, then simply give the form to your employer, informing them that you wish for future contributions to be paid to the fund.

As mentioned above, your employer will be making contributions to your fund at a minimum of a 9.5% rate - but relying solely on minimum contributions can run the risk of leaving you with insufficient retirement funds, forcing you to stay in work longer, or to return to the workforce late in life. Luckily, there are other options for boosting your retirement funds. Typically these extra contributions fall under one of two categories – pre or post-tax contributions, each with their own advantages and limitations.

Pre-tax contributions are the category that includes employer payments, but it also allows for a type of payment referred to as “Salary Sacrificing”. With this strategy, you can sacrifice a portion of your pay and instead contribute it to super – before it goes through your income tax bracket. Although these contributions are taxed at a 15% rate, this typically comes in as lower than your standard income rate (which could be as high as 47%).

Post-tax contributions are made by directly contributing from your own held money to your super fund. As the money being contributed has been subject to your income tax rate already, it is not taxed under the 15% that the Pre-tax contributions typically are, which is particularly handy if your tax rate is lower than this threshold.

When you join a super fund, your funds are invested into a pool with other members of the fund.

However, there are a wide variety of options to choose from, ranging from low to high risk, as well as options to be as involved as you like. Researching the previous performance of the options, as well as weighing your profit goals is vital to your success, as the riskier options may not have the guaranteed growth you intend, as well as conservative options potentially falling short of the mark.

It’s fairly common to end up with a few funds if you happen to change employers on a frequent basis, and with the exception of a few specific strategies, it’s a common strategy to consolidate them into one fund to decrease unnecessary fees.

After choosing which fund you wish to consolidate into, all you need to do is simply contact the fund and request a consolidation form. When filling this form, you will need to let them know what fund/s you currently have, or give them permission to search for them.