{"id":3047,"date":"2017-11-20T05:50:21","date_gmt":"2017-11-20T05:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raizinvest.com.au\/investors\/four-things-you-may-not-know-about-your\/"},"modified":"2020-10-28T01:37:56","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T01:37:56","slug":"four-things-you-may-not-know-about-your","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raizinvest.com.au\/investors\/blog\/four-things-you-may-not-know-about-your\/","title":{"rendered":"Four things you may not know about your superannuation (but should)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"image\"<\/figure>\n

By Alison Banney (Finder.com.au)\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Superannuation
\nisn\u2019t everyone\u2019s cup of tea. Let\u2019s be honest, it\u2019s boring and complicated and
\nit\u2019s something that young Australians won\u2019t need for another 20, 30 or even 40
\nyears. However, your superannuation is likely your largest asset, and while
\nthere\u2019s no need to know every word of your fund\u2019s PDS, there are definitely a
\nfew things you should know.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1.
\nWhere your money is invested<\/h3>\n

Australians
\nare becoming more and more aware of the footprint they\u2019re leaving on our earth.
\nWe\u2019re seeing more people use reusable coffee cups, hearing more of our friends
\nand colleagues commit to eating less meat and seeing more people bring their
\nown shopping bags to the grocery store. But what about your super?<\/p>\n

Your
\nsuperannuation is likely to be the largest investment portfolio you\u2019ll ever
\nhave and\u00a0you could be\u00a0<\/a>supporting tobacco companies<\/a>, ammunition manufacturing
\nor coal-seam gas extraction without even knowing it. You should be able to find
\nthe details of where your money is going on your super fund\u2019s website, although
\nyou may need to do some digging. If you don\u2019t like what you find, don\u2019t
\nhesitate to switch to a fund that aligns with your values.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2.
\nYour insurance cover<\/h3>\n

If
\nyou\u2019re young, healthy and fit you might not consider life insurance as
\nsomething you need. But believe it or not, you\u2019re almost certainly paying for
\nit through your superannuation. Most super funds will provide you with
\nautomatic Death and Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD) cover when you open a
\npolicy, and some will also include automatic Income Protection insurance.<\/p>\n

These
\ninsurance policies are almost always opt-out rather than opt-in, meaning that
\nunless you specifically opt-out of your policy you\u2019ll be paying fees for this
\ncover, whether you want it or not. Have a look at your latest super statement
\nor read your fund\u2019s PDS online to see what insurance you\u2019re paying for, and
\ndecide whether it\u2019s right for you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3.
\nWhat fees you\u2019re paying<\/h3>\n

While
\nyou\u2019re poking around your latest statement, you should also take a look at how
\nmuch you\u2019re forking out in fees. You might already know what admin fees you\u2019re
\npaying, but what about the rest? There are also investment fees and a fee for
\nindirect costs (known as the Indirect Cost Ratio) charged to most accounts, and
\nthese can vary greatly between funds.<\/p>\n

The
\ndifference in fees between funds might not seem like a big deal when you\u2019re
\nyoung, but it can have a huge impact on your superannuation balance by the time
\nyou\u2019re ready to retire.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4.
\nHow your fund has been performing<\/h3>\n

Because
\nof the compulsory nature of superannuation, many people think that all super
\nfunds perform equally, but this is simply not the case. It\u2019s important to think
\nof your superannuation as one large\u00a0investment portfolio<\/a>. It doesn\u2019t guarantee positive
\nreturns, it relies on the skills and knowledge of the fund manager to invest in
\nassets that will provide positive returns. And some are better at this than
\nothers.<\/p>\n

When
\napplied to a balance of $100,000, the performance becomes quite serious. You
\nshould be able to find your fund\u2019s portfolio performance figures on its
\nwebsite.<\/p>\n

Superannuation
\nis incredibly complex, and it can be overwhelming to try and understand every
\ntiny detail of your fund. Instead, use these four areas as a starting point
\nfrom where you can learn more about your super.<\/p>\n

Please
\nalso check out our blog on\u00a0new rules for super contribution<\/a>\u00a0as voluntary
\ncontributions may now be tax deductible.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t have the Raiz App?<\/h3>\n

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:<\/p>\n

\n
\"download-raiz-app\"<\/a>
Click to download the Raiz app<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/figure>\n

Important Information<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The information on this website is general advice only. This means it does not take into account any person\u2019s particular investment objectives, financial situation or investment needs. If you are an investor, you should consult your licensed adviser before acting on any information contained in this article to fully understand the benefits and risk associated with the product.<\/em><\/p>\n

A Product Disclosure Statement for Raiz Invest and\/or Raiz Invest Super are available on the Raiz Invest website and App. A person must read and consider the Product Disclosure Statement in deciding whether, or not, to acquire and continue to hold interests in the product. The risks of investing in this product are fully set out in the Product Disclosure Statement and include the risks that would ordinarily apply to investing.<\/em><\/p>\n

The information may be based on assumptions or market conditions which change without notice. This could impact the accuracy of the information.<\/em><\/p>\n

Under no circumstances is the information to be used by, or presented to, a person for the purposes of deciding about investing in Raiz Invest or Raiz Invest Super.<\/em><\/p>\n

Past return performance of the Raiz products should not be relied on for making a decision to invest in a Raiz product and is not a good predictor of future performance.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alison Banney (Finder.com.au)\u00a0 Superannuation isn\u2019t everyone\u2019s cup of tea. Let\u2019s be honest, it\u2019s boring and complicated and it\u2019s something that young Australians won\u2019t need for another 20, 30 or even 40 years. However, your superannuation is likely your largest asset, and while there\u2019s no need to know every word of your fund\u2019s PDS, there […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[69,60],"yst_prominent_words":[3287,98,155,3283,151,431,224,245,314,1458,313,97,82,117,166,125,239,3280,145,144]}