With the Your Future, Your Super (YFYS) changes now in place, it’s worth thinking about combining all your super accounts into one.
Consolidating (or ‘rolling over’) your super means combining all your super from multiple accounts into one fund and closing your other accounts to save paying several sets of fees and help make it easy to keep track of your super.
If you’ve had more than one job, chances are you have more than one super account. Having multiple accounts can happen when you change jobs, and your employer joins you into a new fund (called their ‘default’ fund). Or, you could have an old account from a long-forgotten job. Either way, having multiple accounts could mean you’re paying multiple fees, and possibly insurance premiums, which could be eating into your retirement nest egg.
An important part of the YFYS changes is ‘stapling’, which began on 1 November 2021. It aims to reduce the number of super accounts you’ll have over your working life. Instead of having a new super account opened for you every time you change jobs, you’ll be ‘stapled’ to your current super fund which will automatically move with you from job to job.
But stapling only means that you won’t have a new account opened for you when you change jobs. It doesn’t automatically close or consolidate any existing accounts you may already have had before 1 November 2021.
Having one super account makes it easy to keep track of your super. Plus, you’ll only ever pay one set of fees and costs, meaning you’ll have more savings in your super account to invest and grow.
If Hostplus is your current super provider, you’ll most likely be stapled to us. And, unless you chose another fund in the future, we’ll follow you when you change jobs in the future too. This means you’ll continue to enjoy all the benefits of our competitive performance, flexible insurance offerings and the freedom to choose the investment option that best suits your needs.
You can find out more on our website hostplus.com.au
However, if you have other super accounts, and would like to move these to your Hostplus account – which is known as consolidating your super – there are a few important things to consider before doing so.
Lots of people don’t pay much attention to their super and may think that all funds are the same. But they’re not. Find out what you can about the fund you’d like to roll into. Does it have low fees? Does the fund have a proven history of competitive long-term returns? Does it offer competitive and flexible insurance cover that suits you, and does it offer a range of investment options that meets your risk profile, preferences and in ways that aligns with your values?
It’s important that you’re happy with your stapled fund, and importantly, that it’s performing well and offers value for money. After all, this may well be the fund that your super contributions will be paid into over your working life (unless you decide to change it).
The YourSuper tool , set up by the government to help you compare funds, can also help.
When you’re ready to consolidate your super, check with your existing super fund(s) as to whether there are any fees or charges that may apply when exiting the fund, or if there’s any loss of benefits (such as insurance cover). If you have insurance cover with another super fund, you may be able to transfer that cover to Hostplus.
Speaking with a licensed superannuation adviser or financial planner can help you get the most out of your super savings.
If you’d like some advice before you consolidate, you can talk to our dedicated phone-based Advice team or an experienced Hostplus Financial Planner, if your circumstances and needs are a bit more involved. Your options include:
We’ve made consolidating your super easy. Simply log in to your Member Online account, enter the details of your other super accounts and we’ll help with the rest – and at no extra cost to you.
If you have any questions about consolidating, or anything else about your super, contact us online or call us on 1300 467 875.
