Why bother with super contributions if things will be going to sh*t?

Discussion in 'Superannuation' started by SpacePete, Jan 10, 2015.

  1. SpacePete

    SpacePete Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    Is there any point in contributing to super and handing money over to funds if we are facing a financial meltdown or worse in the next few decades?

    I mean, its annoying enough as it is to be propping up a bunch of c*nts fund managers through super payments, and these investments are likely to shrink to nothing if the SHTF or the perfidious, venal psychopaths in government bring about a budget emergency that necessitates some "heavy lifting" by all that juicy capital sitting captive in the funds.
     
  2. SilverDJ

    SilverDJ Well-Known Member

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    It's likely won't, that's just a doomsday preppers fantasy.
    Sure, if your super is heavily invested in the stock market the likelihood of a 50% drop like we saw in 2008 is a real possibility.

    So invest it all in a safe cash fund.
    Or better yet stick it in your own SMSF and buy metals with it if you are that worried.
    Heck, if they are bars you can even take possession of them and bury them in your backyard if you want.

    Not going to happen.
     
  3. Maxwell

    Maxwell New Member

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    I don't top my super up at all, it's employer contributions only, into a cash fund only. It gets about 3.5%. but it is the 'safest' of the available options for me at the moment.

    The Grubbyment have shifted the goal posts many times throughout the game, since I started 'saving' they have moved them from 55 to 60+ and that will change again before I retire for sure.

    I see super as possibly nice to have at some stage in the future, but definitely can't be relied upon.

    The most believable prediction I have heard so far, is the government will legislate, and won't allow you to draw on the fund come retirement age. You will have to place it in some sort of annuity (that they designate) and the government will top up the annuity payments to the level of the old age pension if needed. They will sell it as the promise that it will stop the 'rich' double dipping, never mind that 'rich' should be entitled to a pension after paying tax their entire lives, what they have managed to save themselves should be theirs to keep!

    So if you were thinking of using super to pay off the house, have a holiday etc. etc. time to come up with a plan B IMHO
     
  4. SilverDJ

    SilverDJ Well-Known Member

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    Of course. In case you haven't noticed, thank to modern science, the population is living longer and more productive lives.

    I see super as possibly nice to have at some stage in the future, but definitely can't be relied upon.

    If you haven't paid off your house by retirement age then you are probably doing something wrong.
     
  5. raven

    raven Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    Yes but you can certainly top up a cash fund by salary sacrificing some tax into it, untill of course they change the level on that field.

    You certainly don't want to be caught with nothing though, so precious metals in a super fund has a lot of meaning, especially if your a stacker. I treat that portion of our stack as a bonus.

    No one can predict the future, but any excuse the government has will be "suspect", and negative for the general populace, when they come for it.

    10% of the population in France are Muslim, yet are responsible for 50% of the birth rate, so your gonna have to have some sort of plan, and it may as well be physical assets.
    Cash in an institution doesn't seem secure either.
    If it hadn't have been compulsory, I would have paid my house off 9% quicker.

    Your right about the goal posts moving. Has happened several times with super already.
    Wish I had have been able to borrow against my dwelling, invest it in Johnny Howard's superr scheme, and live off the 17% return. That scheme went right out quick smart.
    So they will have to dig real deep to take your stack.
     
  6. SilverDJ

    SilverDJ Well-Known Member

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    That's debatable, because super is supposed to be "on to top of" salary paid for by your employer.
    Do you think wages would be 9% higher if we didn't have compulsory super?
    Also, you aren't accounting for personal income tax of probably around 30% average for a middle income earner.
     
  7. raven

    raven Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    It won't be on top of when they come for it.
    How many retirees went back to worrk, after the last GFC, when a lot suddenly realised, what they thought they had, was now gone
     
  8. Golightly

    Golightly Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    Super with the fall in bond rates has been pushed into risky investments to keep about the required % of return.. it will all be gobbled up and lost when the derivative market implodes later this year..
    It's just another clever way for banks to siphon away our wealth slowly before going in for the kill..

    Also super executives are highest paid in Australia
     
  9. Barrye

    Barrye Member

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    If you have a self managed super fund you can put as much as you want into gold or silver. Then when you start drawing on it as a pension you can sell the assets tax free and the super pension you take is also tax free. :) I'm assuming the regulations won't change between now and when you start your pension. :(
     
  10. TheEnd

    TheEnd Well-Known Member

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    Surely you are better off pumping as much cash as possible into your mortgage and maybe a few investment properties also than letting the government 'play' with your hard earned money.

    No wonder Oz real estate just keeps on climbing to never seen levels of value???
     
  11. GoldenEye

    GoldenEye Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    I also believe that debts should be paid off asap. However, in Australia we have compulsory super, and self managed super is a good place to put money if you're nearing pension age and you want to minimise your tax.

    A friend of mine is receiving a tax free pension from his super fund and the fund receives tax free dividends. This year his SMSF received a tax refund cheque of $38,000 due to the franked dividends the fund received last year.
     
  12. Shaddam IV

    Shaddam IV Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    I assume that anyone currently under the age of 60 will almost certainly never receive their super of it is in a fund. POOF! It's gone!
     
  13. raven

    raven Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    Be carefull with that.
    With the stroke of a pen, landowners, and landlords are prime targets for revised taxes.
     
  14. SilverDJ

    SilverDJ Well-Known Member

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    How is the government "playing" with your super money?
    You are the one that has control over it.

    That's because of the ridiculous unrestricted negative gearing. Most sensible countries don't allow it.
     
  15. SilverDJ

    SilverDJ Well-Known Member

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    Not entirely.
    It is not compulsory for those who are self employed.
     
  16. madaw1

    madaw1 Well-Known Member

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    Why bother with super?--don't bother- stack gold and silver and you be better off-far better off and safe.
     
  17. sammysilver

    sammysilver Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    Super is a funny animal, it represents about 9% of a wage earners income. To many, it is their greatest financial asset. After the GFC, it got chopped to half its value in a short space of time. To short to allow most to rearrange the mix offered by their fund.

    Bearing in mind that 50% of the population is below average, many will stick to the status quo and continue on with the same old same old. I would expect as the Stackeratti are a cut above the rest, there would be a higher proportion of SMSF within the collective. These individuals have control over both their personal and super wealth, often leveraging between the two. There are many opportunities available to these "superstackeratti" beyond the mainstream constraints of commercial and industry super funds.

    So the answer to the question, "why bother?" is to bother very much.
     
  18. Golightly

    Golightly Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    I looked at self managed super it's expensive to set up and maintain, my accountant said would have to be in the millions to make it worth while, he was an ass and I sacked him but it's what I was told, also as.self employed I'm supposed to pay super for myself as well least by the company when sole trade not so sure,
    Way I see it in 30 Years when I cam collect mine it will be 75 year old working age, ( if we aren't in a gulag by then.. no way on earth I will ever see it, I don't even look at it anymore, it's just an imaginary account
     
  19. smk762

    smk762 Active Member Silver Stacker

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    SMFS ---> Property.
    At least you'll have a patch of dirt to die on.
     
  20. bradsw57

    bradsw57 New Member Silver Stacker

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    I "invested" in super throughout my working life - compulsory contributions only, plus whatever the employer had to put in. I recently ... left ... my employment of 20-ish years with Brisbane City Council with over $400K of fiat.

    At 57, I could access some of that tax free so I now own my home (conservatively valued at about $550K in the current bubble), and make a start on a stack, as well as have enough for the inevitable bills. My better half (she who must be obeyed) is still working and shoving her fiat into her super, so hopefully we'll have something more when she gets sacked...errr...retires.

    So yeah, super works. Just make a few non-stupid choices when you can get your hands on it, and if you can save outside the super system while you're working do that too - and stacking's a good way to save :)
     

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