Supporting retirement planning at any age
Cost-of-living pressures are driving more Australians under 40 to plan for retirement, with 49% taking action, research commissioned by HESTA finds.
Life
With the end of another financial year fast approaching, now’s a great time to plan how you can add to your super - and there are some easy ways to make that happen.
Here are our top five super contribution tips for the end of financial year:
1. Take advantage of the government co-contribution
If you have a total income under $57,016 in the 2022-23 financial year and you add more into your super account from your take-home pay before 26 June 2023, the government could match up to 50% of what you put in – to a maximum of $500. Just contribute to your super from your take-home pay before 26 June 2023, and you could get a government top up into your account (as long as you don’t claim a tax deduction for these contributions – see next tip).
2. Contribute to your super – and claim a tax deduction
If you make a personal contribution to your super from your after-tax income or savings, you may be able to claim a tax deduction for these contributions in your 2022-23 tax return. To be eligible, make an after-tax contribution before 26 June 2023 to make sure it's been received and allocated to your HESTA for Mercy account before the end of the financial year (noting that this will make the contributions ineligible for the government co-contribution – see tip above).
To claim the deduction, you’ll need to complete the ATO notice of intent form, return it to us and receive our confirmation that the notice is valid before lodging your tax return.
Learn more about after-tax contribitions
3. Downsize your home – upsize your super
If you have recently sold your home you can use some of the proceeds from this sale to upsize your super. Up to $300,000 per person or $600,000 for a couple.
This option is available to anyone over age 55 who is selling a home that either you or your spouse have owned for at least 10 years. The contribution to your super must be made within 90 days of the sale and doesn’t count to any of your contribution caps.
4. Spouse contributions and super splitting
If you’re not working or on a lower income (under $40,000 p.a.) your spouse or partner may be entitled to claim a tax offset of up to $540 for spouse contributions they make to your account on your behalf.
Learn more about spouse contributions
Another spouse related super strategy is contribution splitting. If your spouse has more super than you, you can start to equalise your super by splitting up to 85% of their before-tax contributions (that is their employer and any salary sacrifice contributions they have made to their super account).
Requests to split contributions need to be made by 30 June following the year the contributions are made – so, to split your spouses’ contributions for the 2021-22 financial year, requests need to be made before 30 June 2023.
5. Set up a transition to retirement (TTR) strategy
If you’re over your preservation age (that is, age 59 or over by 30 June 2023), you can restructure your income so your take-home pay stays the same while boosting your super.
This is called a TTR strategy and can be achieved by using your super to set up a HESTA for Mercy income stream account. Your income stream account pays you an income from your super and you can use this additional income to offset higher contributions to your super.
Learn more about setting up a TTR strategy
need some help with your contribution strategy?
Our super advisers can help work out a contribution strategy that’s right for you. You can see a super adviser at no extra cost: it’s all part of being with HESTA for Mercy.
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