Accessing your superannuation

Most people think they can’t access their superannuation until they retire, but that’s not actually the case!
I recently had a client say to me “we can’t do anything with our super because we’re not retired yet” but actually, you can access your super as soon as you reach what’s called the ‘preservation age’. 

Preservation age is the minimum age at which you can access your super benefits under Australian Legislation. If you reach preservation age - which differs for everyone, but as of today is about 57 years old - before you retire from work, then you can access your superannuation.
As soon as your ‘preservation age’ door opens, there’s lots of strategies you can implement to boost your super even more, until you do decide to stop working.

This might include things like accessing a transition to retirement pension that allows you to save on the amount of tax you’re paying, accessing funds to pay your mortgage off quicker or transferring some money into your spouse’s super.

 Once you’ve reached preservation age, the sooner you start implementing some of these strategies, the better off you’ll be - even if you’re still intending to work for a few more years - so understanding what your entitlements are is 100% something I recommend looking into.

The client I mentioned earlier? Once we went through the details of their situation, it turned out they could save over $8000 a year in tax and use some of their super to pay off their mortgage a couple of years sooner - ultimately putting them in a better position when they do decide to retire.

 If you’d like some advice on accessing your super, get in touch for a chat today. You can also check out our Facebook and YouTube for advice on getting the most out of every step of your superannuation journey.