How retirement works

Retirement is a unique journey for everyone, and the ideal time to seek financial advice varies from person to person. 

Some members choose to meet with our financial advice team well before retirement to gain clarity and confidence about the road ahead. Others might seek advice after experiencing significant life changes, such as unexpected employment shifts, health issues, or changes in family dynamics that lead to an earlier-than-anticipated retirement.

Since the timing and circumstances of retirement aren’t always within our control, we encourage you to speak with a Catholic Super financial planner sooner rather than later. Taking a proactive approach can provide you with greater certainty and clarity as you approach retirement, whether it goes as planned or takes an unexpected turn.

To determine if financial advice is right for you now or in the future, book a 15-minute conversation with our financial advice team to learn more about our personal advice service and how it could benefit you.^

Whether you're confident in setting up your account yourself or need our expert guidance and support through the process, we make setting up a retirement account easy.

It is the same process for setting up a Retirement Income or Transition to Retirement Income account – either online, over the phone or via a hardcopy application form.

You can learn more about these products and begin your journey here.

Regardless of how you apply for your retirement account, there’s a few things you should have prepared to complete your application:

• Bank account details for where you’d like your income payments to go.

• Superannuation account details from which to transfer your super savings into your new retirement account.

• Two forms of identification to verify your identity, such as a valid Australian driver’s licence or passport.

• Tax file number for the purposes of identification when rolling over from an external fund.

• A digital copy of your bank statement to confirm the bank account that we will pay your retirement income to.

• Two forms of identification to verify your identity, such as a valid Australian driver’s licence or passport.

Our online application generally takes 20 minutes to complete, but you can save your progress and resume at any time within 14 days.

You’ll need to decide things such as the amount of income you wish to receive and how you’d like your balance to be invested. The good thing is that you’ll be able to alter these at any time via our member portal should you change your mind once your account is setup.

Once your online application is submitted, we will review it to ensure we have all the required information. We’ll give you a call within two business days to confirm that your application has been submitted for setup or to request any additional information. Our goal is to ensure that your account setup is as seamless as possible.

On average, it typically takes 5-10 business days to set up an account once all the necessary information has been received.

You can call us at any time for assistance with your application or to check on its progress.

Superannuation counts towards both the assets and income tests for the Age Pension. This means that the amount of money you have in superannuation (or a retirement account) can affect the level of Age Pension you are entitled to receive from the Government. 

Our financial planners can assist you with maximising your Centrelink entitlements and our Retirement Drawdown calculator can demonstrate how to combine your super savings with the Age Pension to meet your desired retirement income.

Yes. There are many reasons why you may choose to return to work. 

If you have met the eligibility requirements and transferred your superannuation to a Retirement Income account you are allowed to return to work.

There are some considerations that you should be aware of when doing so:

• You do not have to close your Retirement Income account, but if you keep it open you must continue to receive your income payments even if you are receiving salary or wages from your new job.

• Any superannuation guarantee contributions you receive from your new job will need to be paid into a superannuation account. If you closed your superannuation account when you transferred to a Retirement Income account, you’ll need to open a new one to receive those contributions. 

• If you wish to access the superannuation contributions from your new job as a regular income, you’ll need to transfer them to a new Retirement Income account. 

• You can continue to have your Retirement Income account at the same time as a superannuation account.

If you are returning to work, we recommend discussing your options with our retirement experts. They can guide you through setting up a new superannuation account, and what to provide to your new employer.  You should also read the MyFuture Product Disclosure Statement, and refer to the Target Market Determination (TMD) for the product.

Yes. Our team of retirement experts can assist members with setting up their accounts. 

Accounts can be set up online and we can hold a phone or video appointment to help step you through the process or start the application on your behalf. Our online application process allows you to save your progress and resume it again within 14 days should you wish to consider your options.

Our team are qualified to provide you with general advice to enable you to make decisions and can refer you to our team of Financial Planners for personal advice specific to your situation if need be.^ They will talk you through the advice process and can book an appointment on your behalf if you wish.

A reversionary beneficiary is a nominated dependant to whom your regular income payments will continue to be paid to in the event of your death. This is different from a nominated beneficiary who will receive the balance of your retirement account paid out as a lump sum.

A reversionary beneficiary is only available under a Retirement Income account. 

When referring to your superannuation money in the context of paying it to your dependents upon your death, an industry term is ‘death benefit’.

More information about nominating a reversionary beneficiary and eligibility criteria is available here.

On average, Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF) trustees spend over eight hours a month managing their fund, which totals more than 100 hours a year*. As some SMSF owners head towards retirement, they may question whether a SMSF is still most suitable way to manage their retirement savings.

If your SMSF is intended for broad investment opportunities, such as real estate, a variety of stock market options (e.g., shares or ETFs), or even artwork, it might still be the right choice for you.

If you have set-up an SMSF to have control, flexibility and investment diversification when it comes to your superannuation then Catholic Super might be a good alternative for you – without the hassle and expense of managing your own SMSF.  Here’s why:

• We offer a range of diversified investment options with various asset allocations, all managed by our expert investment team and external investment advisors.

• You can tailor your investment strategy by selecting from our diversified options or combining them with sector-specific choices.

• You have control and flexibility over your superannuation, including choosing or switching investment options, making additional contributions, tailoring insurance cover and nominating who gets your super on your passing.

• You can access direct investments such as infrastructure, private equity, or unlisted assets that may not be available through an SMSF.

Transferring your SMSF to Catholic Super is straightforward—simply complete our online application form and provide details of your SMSF and associated bank accounts.

If you're considering whether an SMSF is right for you in retirement, we recommend seeking professional financial advice. We can connect you with our Financial Planning team if you’re interested. 

(*Source: SMSF Investor Report, April 2021, Investment Trends)

There are many things you can do to make the most of your superannuation and boost your balance before retirement. Here are some things you can consider:

• Reviewing your investments to ensure they are aligned with your objectives and time horizon.

• Making extra contributions to your super, over and above any superannuation guarantee (SG) contributions paid by your employer.

• Consolidating all your accounts together could help you save on fees, save on hassle, and grow your super. 

• Reviewing your insurance to ensure it meets your needs. If you’ve got multiple super accounts, you may have multiple insurance policies.

There are also tax efficient strategies that enable you to contribute more and/or gain access to your super in the lead up to retirement, a common one is a transition to retirement strategy. These strategies are complicated, and a financial planner is best placed to assist you with them.

We recommend speaking with our retirement experts to discuss the options available to you.