Most people are bored by super. They don’t tend to it or cherish it. Often they don’t know where their super is, and bizarrely the majority have no idea what it is invested in.

However, if you could increase your eventual super balance by tens of thousands of dollars by spending just 2 minutes on it now, surely that would be a good thing.

So if you have not tended to your super for a while, let me try and inspire you ……

Most people don’t choose their superfund; their employer does it for them. And assuming you took little interest in the process, whichever fund you are with, you will probably be invested in their default “balanced” option.

Now all superfund providers have slightly different balanced funds, but as a rule of thumb 50% to 60% of your money will be invested in growth assets such as shares (these are great), and 50% to 40% in income assets such as term deposits, bonds and cash (these are dull).

Given you can’t touch super until you retire, as long as there are a fair few years before you skip out of the office, most would be better off cranking up the investment option. You don’t need half of your nest egg languishing in cash for decades; you want lots of growth assets.

It’s not difficult: just log onto your superfund account, see what options are available and pick a growth investment option. This will give you a higher exposure to growth assets which should add a couple of % additional return every single year. Due to compounding, this will make an enormous difference to your end balance.

In the long run the growth option always does better than the balanced option.

Of course, cranking up the risk won’t suit everyone. You need to consider your age, whether you can sleep at night if markets fall, and you need to be strong enough not to sell if markets wobble, but to wait it out – confident that in the long run you will win.

It is really important to understand that the choice of investment option is totally separate to the choice of superfund provider. Both are important but for different reasons. There is little point being in a really cheap fund, but choosing an investment option with low returns.

As ever, if you need assistance please get in touch

Lindsay 0413 952 180