Superannuation

Types of super contributions

The Vanguard Personal Superannuation Plan accepts a variety of contribution types.

Employer contributions

This is the most common type of contribution. Most employers are obliged to make superannuation guarantee (SG) contributions to a complying superannuation fund for their employees until they reach age 70. Broadly speaking, these SG contributions are 9% of your before-tax salary.

Salary sacrifice

This is an arrangement whereby your employer sets aside part of your before-tax salary and pays it into your superannuation fund. This can be a very tax-effective way of contributing to super, particularly if you are a high income earner and stay within the concessional contributions cap. The caps are currently $25,000 per person per annum if you are under age 50, and $50,000 per person per annum if you are over age 50.

Tax vouchers

These are vouchers issued to you by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) if your employer has failed to pay their SG contributions to a complying super fund. If you have received any of these vouchers, you can pay these into your Vanguard Personal Superannuation Plan account.

Personal contributions

Generally, if you are under age 65, you can make voluntary contributions from after-tax dollars up to $150,000 per financial year, or up to $450,000 in any one financial year by opting to bring forward three years worth of contributions. These caps are inclusive of excess concessional contributions such as employer and salary sacrifice contributions.

Spouse contributions

Your spouse can make contributions to your Vanguard Personal Superannuation Plan account, and/or you can make contributions to your spouse’s Vanguard Personal Superannuation Plan account, generally until the member receiving the contributions turns age 65. Spouse contributions can be a tax-efficient way for many couples to save for their retirement, as the contributor may be entitled to receive a tax offset.

Government contributions

Subject to certain conditions, you may be eligible for the Commonwealth Government’s super co-contributions scheme. Generally, the Commonwealth Government will contribute $1 for each $1 of non-concessional contributions an eligible person makes, up to a maximum of $1,000 per annum.

Rollovers

A rollover is a lump sum superannuation benefit that can be paid from one complying superannuation fund to another. Rollovers may include amounts you have in other complying superannuation funds, or certain redundancy or retirement payments made by an employer upon termination of your employment.