Superannuation Advice Needed

colin1 on 02/09/2013 - 17:47

Hi,

I have been asked by a friend to help her with here superannuation. I have a SFSF thru an advisor so I am not really up to date with Industry / Retail Funds

She has been made redundant and her employee fund was with Plum FS (I think it is a division of NAB)and after looking at the fee she is being charged we are hoping to find a fund with lower fee and a decent return.

After reading some posts on OZ Bargain I see that several members have nominated Australian Super as a reasonable choice. I have a few questions hoping someone can help me out

  1. To move the current super balance from Plum do you need to contact them or does the new fund do that for you when you open an account with them ?

  2. She currently has an insurance policy attached to her super A/C. Is it better to leave a small amount in the current super A/C so to retain the insurance cover or is it better to get insurance with the new fund or somewhere else

If anyone has any other info such as other funds I should look at or any other details that may help it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Colin

Financial

Comments

  • Kuro on 02/09/2013 - 21:25

    1. Make sure to check with Plum on the insurance benefit and premium and then check with Australian Super if they can offer the same or better.

    2. Plum specialise in employer based super plans, therefore she may have discounts/benefits for being under a large employer(once was). She may lose these benefits if she leaves the plan. Might want to check on this.

    3. Seek advice from an adviser. There should be adviser linked to her Plum account. If not, they can refer her to one.

  • Peck on 02/09/2013 - 23:17

    I wouldn't be in any hurry. I assume that she will get re-employed somewhere else, and so she may go into yet another super fund. Then she can explore consolidating into that fund. That fund might offer insurance. To the best of my knowledge a new super fund will arrange the transfer from her old fund if asked to do so. She would just have to provide the details and sign the form.

  • sparkles on 03/09/2013 - 01:11

    Plum will transfer her from the employers super plan to a regular plan automatically once the employer advises them they are no longer an employee. She'll get a package from them in due course outlining her options. I've also got Plum account, I only keep super in Plum for the life insurance. I never really noticed that their fees were particularly high.

  • Peck on 03/09/2013 - 12:25

    I had a quick look at their web site but their fees seem difficult to find.

  • Cheeper on 08/09/2013 - 05:28

    Check the Australian Super website… all the details are there on fees and returns.
    There are 2 fees involved…
    1. account management and that is shown separate on your statement… it is not much per year.
    2. Investment management fee… every one of the investment choices has a different fee… that fee is already deducted when you look at the schedule of returns.

    Another fund to check out is AusCoalSuper… their returns seem good and their fees reasonable.

    The insurance with super funds is a rip off imo… that is up to you to assess.

    Note… when looking at returns charts there are usually two… superannuation (the one you want) and pensions.

    http://www.australiansuper.com/investments-and-performance/s…

    http://www.auscoalsuper.com.au/super-members/investments/inv…

    • rmamila on 09/09/2013 - 14:16

      I am with Australian Super for past 5.5 years. I have always been on their balanced funds which is the default option. I have no special insurance with Super fund and only the standard one which is just cover for the amount of annual salary on TPD.
      I have sent closer to 50k to the fund for this period. After making their investment losses/gains and charging the management fees, the fund has around 30k left in it.
      It's a shame that Super is a mandatory thing in Australia. Working completely different field of investment, I can do much better on average when I invest on shares. Wonder why they charge a fee to make wrong investment and loose money all the time. I am waiting until it grows over 100k some day to start a SMSF so that I my self can make much better investment and grow the fund.

  • Blockey on 09/09/2013 - 12:21

    See a financial advisor if you want a truly informed decision, a lot of them will give you a free consultation and may provide you with some ideas as to which fund may be suitable.

  • daffyd on 09/09/2013 - 21:07

    1. It depends on the fund whether the new fund will organise it or require you to send a form to the old fund. Other than getting some a certified copy of appropriate identification it's just a matter of filling in the form.

    2. There's a flat fee (as well as the % fees) attached to the Plum personal plan: http://www.plum.com.au/downloads/Formspubs/PSF_PPP_PDS.pdf
      So it may be cheaper to get insurance with the new provider.

    On insurance, how easy/cheap it is to 'apply' often depends on how she's entering the fund. Most funds don't give much insurance automatically unless you join while getting employer contributions, so if she's expecting to re-enter the workforce soon it may be worth waiting until the new employer. Australian Super is not especially cheap for insurance, at least when I checked for me. They do have a very inexpensive Balanced Index fund though.

    Some other funds that might be worth considering are listed on my blog (I'm not associated with any of the funds, other than now being a customer of a couple of them):

    Diversified funds comparison: http://superannuationfreak.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/the-best-…

    Low cost and index funds more generally: http://superannuationfreak.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/the-best-…

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