It was great to hear that from 1 July 2013, you can start to organise the transfer of Australian superannuation scheme benefits over to KiwiSaver. If you have worked in Australia over the last 20 years, you probably have a few thousand dollars knocking around over there.
I will have more detailed stuff in later posts, but my main general guidance at this point is to wait. The providers are now scrambling to get ready in time for 1 July. Many of them may not make it by that deadline, but that doesn't mean they're bad providers. They have been given very little to time to get the right systems in place.
Once everyone is ready, you can make a better assessment of who might be the best KiwiSaver provider to take on your Australian superannuation transfer. I would give it until the end of this year. Have a good look in 2014 - all the main KiwiSaver providers should be ready by then.
In the meantime, if you have lost track of where your Aussie super is, consider using the free Super Seeker online service from the Australian Tax Office. Here is the link:
http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.aspx?doc=/content/33301.htm&alias=superseeker
I only mention this because I have noted some excitement from providers who are gearing up to charge the public to do this. Like the tax refund companies, you can do it yourself. It is all online and it isn't that hard.
In later posts, I will also ask you to consider what you might be giving up. Does your Aussie super carry with it any guarantees? For example, some funds might have built-in inflation proofing, underwritten by the Government. You will lose all of that on transfer.
The main message is not to be rushed. Be sure of these things :
1. Where it is
2. What it is (is it just super? - any life insurance in there?)
3. Whether transferring to KiwiSaver is the best thing to do.
Providers will promote it as a no-brainer. It isn't. It is your money and you should only transfer if it is the right thing to do.
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