I am 54 years old and will be leaving the workforce due to an auto immune illness. I have been cleaned out by the ANTI Family court twice so only have approx. $200K in super left. No longer own a house but do have some land. Can I access my super early due to early retirement? And what are the taxation implications? Thanks.

Hi John,

There are very limited circumstances to access your super prior to what's known as preservation age, which is likely a couple of years away for you. Early retirement isn't one of them.

There's an early release option for financial hardship, which you may qualify for.

Best bet is to talk to your super fund. Don't just talk to the person in the call centre, ask to speak to someone about superannuation early release.

Also, when you do stop work make sure you get along to Centrelink to see if you can qualify for any assistance from them.

Regarding tax on your super, you will likely have to pay some as you are under the age of 60. Your super fund will be able to confirm the taxable components of your super benefit for you.

Let me know if I can be of any further help.

Regards
James

Hi John,
I agree, you need to speak with a product expert either in the super fund or through a financial planner. You would be able to access some of your super due to hardship but also investigate the insurance portion. I would expect that if verified by two specialists that you can never work again you could claim TPD and get a lump sum payout allowing you to preserve your super for a couple more years.
Best of luck with your challenges ahead
Regards
Scott