Accessing Your Super

It is getting close to 20 years since compulsory super was brought into Australia.  Over that time many people have changed jobs and have not kept up with tracking their ‘old’ super funds.  According to an article by Andrew Carswell in ‘The  Daily Telegraph’ April 2011, there is currently $5.4 billion in lost or inactive superannuation accounts.  There are currently 6.16 million accounts either lost or inactive, representing 15% of all superannuation accounts, this figure increased by 1.8% in the past financial year.

The ATO has about 25% of the unclaimed super ($1,350,000,000) which they generously store free of charge, but are earning healthy interest on.

How can I access this super?

Basically there are three ways you can access your super funds:

  1. Death or terminal illness is a condition of release for super (although I would not recommend either of these).
  2. Total and Permanent Disablement is a condition of release (also not recommended).
  3. Turning the correct age will trigger a condition of release (recommended).

The age-based conditions are as follows:

If you were born before 1 July 1960 then you can access your super from age 55 ‘if’ you are fully retired.  There is a sliding scale from age 55 to age 60, so if you were born after 30 June 1964 then you will have to wait until age 60 to access your super ‘if’ you are fully retired.  The last age bracket is 65, at this stage, whether you are retired or not you have met the final condition of release and can access your super funds.

Within super there are three levels of preservation, these are;

  1. Preserved (PB)
  2. Restricted non-preserved (RNPB)
  3. Unrestricted non-preserved (UNPB)

The UNPB can be accessed at any time, either as a lump sum or income stream, the PB and the RNPB must meet a condition of release, which we have previously discussed.

As of 1 July 1999 all super contributions are PB, as such it is getting less common to see the UNPB.  If you have a UNPB from pre 1 July 1999 then this amount is quarantined and any earnings on this amount are also preserved.

Other ways to access super

Severe Financial Hardship or Compassionate Grounds
There are some other ways super funds can be accessed pre retirement.  You may be able to apply under the ‘severe financial hardship’ or ‘compassionate’ rules.  There are different rules that may apply depending on the age of the member and the reasons for compassionate grounds vary.  Application forms are available from the APRA web site at http://www.apra.gov.au/Superannuation/Early-Realease-of-Super-Benefits.cfm.

Terminating Employment with less than $200.

If you have only been with an employer a short time and have less that $200 in super, then upon terminating  the employment you are able to access the full amount tax free.

Temporary Resident Departing Australia

As Australia is such a great place to live in or visit, we have a lot of people who come here on a temporay visa.  Often these people will work here and upon leaving have no intention of coming back here to live permanently.  While they have worked in Australia, their employer would have been paying into an Australian super fund for them.  When the employee is leaving Australia permanently, these funds can be accessed by using a paper form or by using the ATO’s Departing Australia superannuation payment (DASP) online application system.