To boost your super, you can make before tax contributions, such as salary sacrifice, or after-tax contributions.
To get a sense of how to make extra contributions work for you, try the ASFA Contributions Optimiser.
Before tax contributions (including the compulsory super guarantee and salary sacrifice are often referred to as concessional contributions while after-tax contributions are sometimes referred to as non-concessional contributions.
Salary Sacrifice for your super
You can talk to your employer about forgoing some of your salary to make extra contributions to your super account instead of being part of your take home pay. This can have tax advantages as the standard 15 per cent tax on super contributions may be less than what that money would have been taxed if it was in your take-home pay.
To find out more, contact your fund or visit the ATO website.
After-tax/non-concessional contributions
After-tax contributions are contributions you make from your take-home pay. So if you find yourself with a little spare money which you would like to add to your retirement savings, you can contact your fund to find out how you can deposit this money into your super account. Some funds give you the ability to deposit the money straight from your back account into your super account.
To find how you make an after-tax contribution, contact your fund.
Government Co-contribution
If you earn less than $61,920 you may be eligible for the Government co-contribution in which you after-tax contributions to your super account are matched dollar for dollar by the Government, up to a maximum of $1,000.
More information on the Government co-contribution.
A little can go a long way. Contributing an extra $50 a month could add tens of thousands to your final retirement savings balance.
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