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Welcome to Beyond India’s new BEYOND FINANCE section – a new monthly specialist section to help our readers improve and enhance their financial wealth and retirement planning

Have your cake and eat it too:  Access your super while at work.

Those over 55 years of age but who want to continue working can now access their super – thanks to a Government initiative that can provide benefits for many groups of people, including those approaching retirement, says financial adviser, Manish Sundarjee, from Kidmans Partners

Since 1 July 2005, the Government has made available ‘transition to retirement’ pensions.  These pensions offer a series of periodic payments similar to other retirement income streams.  Manish Sundarjee says that although they do not allow lump sum withdrawals they are flexible in the sense that they can be stopped at any time should the person wish to go back to work full time or revert back to accumulation phase.  In addition, once a person does retire, it becomes an ordinary pension and lump sums can be withdrawn.

According to Manish Sundarjee those working part-time are ideal candidates for this type of measure.  “A person 55 or over can still work part time but supplement their income if they need to, by accessing part of their super.  They do not need to fulfil any Work Test requirements and furthermore, they can roll back their funds at a later date if they want to start building up their super again.” Manish Sundarjee also points out that given the favourable superannuation tax environment, there could also be some tax savings involved by commencing a pension whilst still working.   “The earnings in your superannuation fund are normally taxed at 15%.  However by commencing a ‘transition to retirement’ pension, the earnings on assets that support the pension become tax free.” 

Manish says one strategy which can be used to take advantage of these tax savings is to salary sacrifice a significant portion of your income and then commence a ‘transition to retirement’ pension to replace your employment income. 

However, Manish Sundarjee warns that although accessing super early can be useful for some, it needs to be carefully planned.  “The most important thing to keep in mind is to ensure that you still have plenty of super savings to fund your retirement when you are older.  Using some of your super early might assist you now, but could also leave you short later down the track.”

“At the end of the day, it will come down to your individual financial position.  Seek professional advice if you are unsure” says Manish Sundarjee Manish Sundarjee is an Authorised Representative of Count Financial Limited, an Australian Financial Services Licensee (No. 227232) and Australia's largest independently owned network of financial planning accountants and advisers.

The advice provided is general advice only as, in preparing it, we did not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs.  Before making an investment decision on the basis of this advice, you should consider how appropriate the advice is to your particular investment needs, and objectives.

For any questions that our readers would like answered with respect to their general financial matters, please email the editor at  Beyond India and we will have our financial specialist , Manish Sundarjee,  respond  More information:

Manish Sundarjee, Kidmans Partners
Phone: (03) 9836 2900