Hi,

I work in the media and have a number of different contracts. I’m trying the get more funds into my super but in my line of work I need to be careful. If I make more super contributions is there any considerations to being able to access funds if needed?

Thank you

Dear Elizabeth

You can maximise $25,000 contribution per year,go for it, we are all living longer and we will need more money.

Regards

Madhu

Hi Elizabeth,

Generally speaking, you cannot access your Superannuation until Preservation age/retirement. Only exception is through significant financial hardship (read up on this on the ATO website - quite serious hardship required).

While Super is a great tax benefit, and could be very worthwhile maximising to draw on in the future, depending on your age, it may be more financially sound to build up your cash reserves/reduce personal debts to a point that you can manage for a period of time without work.

speak to your accountant and financial planner to get some clarity based on your personal circumstances.

Todd.

Totally agree with what Todd has mentioned, only thing that i would like to add is even the exception of 'significant financial hardship' some industry super-funds might not have the option to be able to withdraw funds for example REST as their rules / laws don't have a provision for such withdrawals so please be mind full and check with your super-fund.

In general, I would recommend that to put more money in your super fund or now is a decision that you can take closer to the end of financial year which will give you time to assess your position, speaking to a financial adviser or your accountant who understands your financial position would be the best thing.

Best wishes.
Anuraag