SUPER fund & Tax question

cc181187

Hi been in Oz nearly 5 months now. I've worked in a few different jobs.

Hospitality - HotPlus is the fund for my hospitality work. Only did like 4 weeks in total over 2 jobs

HealthCare/ Hospital - MLC should have most of my super in this fund but was paid through an agency so I still need to get my fund number etc.

Construction - CBUS - Only started a couple of weeks ago and didn't want to be ABN so have to get the fund number etc.

Few questions
1. How do I combine all these and is it possible?
2. Whats the best general fund / bank to go with?

Ok just a quick question on tax although it is a bit general? Do you keep receipts for public transport/ rent and generally what % of the tax you earn do you get back?

Thanks for any help/ comments

Peregrinus

cc181187 wrote: »

Hi been in Oz nearly 5 months now. I've worked in a few different jobs.

Hospitality - HotPlus is the fund for my hospitality work. Only did like 4 weeks in total over 2 jobs

HealthCare/ Hospital - MLC should have most of my super in this fund but was paid through an agency so I still need to get my fund number etc.

Construction - CBUS - Only started a couple of weeks ago and didn't want to be ABN so have to get the fund number etc.

Few questions
1. How do I combine all these and is it possible?

It is usually possible. You can “roll over” your entitlements from one fund to another. You do this by getting a form from the super fund you want to transfer out of, and filling it out with the details of the fund you want to transfer into, and then sending it back to the fund you want to transfer out of. They will then effect the rollover.

It’s convenient, obviously, to have your entitlements in one place, but before effecting a series of rollovers you should check if there are any cost implications. A lot of funds make an off-the-top deduction on all sums received, so if you contribute to fund A (and suffer a deduction) and then roll over your accumulated entitlements to fund B (and suffer another deduction) and then roll over to fund C (and suffer another deduction) you can end up paying a very large amount for convenience.

cc181187 wrote: »

2. Whats the best general fund / bank to go with?

The one with the lowest charges. It’s impossible to predict which fund will have the strongest investment return. Given that, the fund with the best expected net return is the one which will deduct the least by way of charges and expenses.

In general, industry funds (like HostPlus and CBus) will have materially lower charges than the offerings of banks and insurance companies (like MLC), who have heavy marketing costs to bear, plus a need to pay a return to shareholders/policyholders. But there is no substitute for actually checking out the actual costs and charges levied by the actual funds that you are choosing between. Charges and costs are often complex and confusing, and their impact on you can depend a lot on your personal circumstances, but if you’re a long-term investor (i.e. you’re not a temporary resident who will be leaving Australian in the short term, and cashing out your super) then look for the “total expense ratio”, or TER, which is supposed to be a composite of the net effect of charges and expenses calculated on a uniform basis for all funds (and therefore meaningfully comparable between funds). This information will be available from the funds, though you may have to dig a bit to find it. The harder you have to dig to get good information on charges and expenses, the more likely it is that the charges and expenses are high, and the fund is hoping not to draw attention to the fact.

cc181187 wrote: »

Ok just a quick question on tax although it is a bit general? Do you keep receipts for public transport/ rent and generally what % of the tax you earn do you get back?

Rent (for your own domestic accommodation) is not deductible, so there is no point in keeping receipts. (No point for tax purposes, anyway.) The cost of getting yourself to and from work is also not deductible. If you travel for work (e.g. travelling from your workplace to a client’s worksite) and you’re not reimbursed for that by your employer that is deductible, so keep receipts for that.

Xavi6

Travel expenses for getting to and from work, i.e. public transport, can't be claimed.

If you travel during work time and it isn't already reimbursed by the company you can claim that.