Salary sacrificing

 Whatever your age or stage of work, making salary sacrifice contributions is a tax-effective way to top up your super. Salary sacrificing could also reduce the income tax you pay.

Under a salary sacrifice arrangement, you instruct your employer to make a super contribution from your pre-tax salary. Although you pay contributions tax on the money going into the super fund, a lower gross salary could mean you pay less income tax.

You also have the ongoing benefit that investment earnings in super are taxed at a maximum of 15%, whereas if you invested outside super the earnings would be taxed at your marginal tax rate (up to a maximum of 46.5%). This tax reduction means you have a larger amount to invest, which can make a big difference over time.

We can help you structure a salary package with your employer and incorporate salary sacrifice into your superannuation and retirement planning strategy.

When you get closer to retirement, you could take advantage of a transition to retirement strategy, which makes it possible to access some of your super in the form of a pre-retirement pension while you are still working. If you have reached your ‘preservation age’ (which varies, starting at age 55 if you were born before 1 July 1960) and are still working, we can show you how you could salary sacrifice into your super while simultaneously drawing a pre-retirement pension. This tax-effective strategy could help increase your retirement savings.

To find out how a salary sacrifice strategy could work for you, call 02 9299 9333 or email doc@unicorp.com.au.