Introduction
Welcome to your Family Day Care Industry Super Fund.
As your industry association, Family Day Care Australia is proud to partner with County Group Financial Strategies and AXA Australia to bring FDCA members the Family Day Care Industry Super Fund designed specifically to help self employed carers plan for retirement.
To help you develop your super plan, County Group Financial Strategies has included information about:
- What is super and how does it work - benefits and pitfalls
- Details about the Family Day Care Industry Super Fund
- How much super you really need
County Group Financial Strategies can also help you with a range of services including:
- Super plans for family members
- Financial Planning including - Wealth Creation, Retirement Planning, Estate Planning
- Protection planning incorporating - Life, Disablement, Trauma and Income Protection Insurance
With the recent Government changes to superannuation there has never been a better time to arrange your super. County Group Financial Strategies qualified Fiancial Advisers can help you get started today.
[back to top]
What is Super and How Does it Work?
Superannuation is simply a means of putting aside money during your working life for use as retirement income. It is offered under a regulatory system to protect your investment and provides certain taxation incentives.
Super can make the difference between simply surviving on an Age Pension and providing you with enough income to be involved in a broad range of recreational and leisure activities and maintain a good standard of living in retirement.
Benefits
Super enables you to invest in a wide range of products such as cash, fixed interest, property, shares and any combination of these investments. Although these investments are available to you outside super, super offers greater tax benefits - you pay less tax and keep more of your money to live on when you retire.
Super is able to do this because you pay a lower rate of tax on income and growth at the beginning, along the way and at the end. Additionally the profit you make on your super investment is automatically added to your super fund so that you make profits on your profits!
You may also be eligible for the Government's co-contribution (maximum of $1500) where the Government will pay $1.50 into your super fund for each $1.00 you personally contribute to super. For more details regarding the Government co-contribution visit www.ato.gov.au.
Now, more than ever, it is important you speak with your accountant or tax adviser to determine the best outcome for your situation ie whether it is better to claim your contributions as a tax deduction or to take advantage of the Government co-contribution or a combination of both.
The end result is that your super investment will usually grow at a greater rate than non-super investments.
Pitfalls
Because super is specifically designed to provide you with income when you retire there are some restrictions on when and how you can use the money. The two main restrictions are:
- You are usually unable to access your super money until you reach retirement age (between 55 and 60)
- You are unable to borrow money using your super money as collateral
[back to top]
Family Day Care Industry Super Fund
The Family Day Care Industry Super Fund is administered with AXA Australia through their Business Super Directions Fund. A flexible and well rated multi balanced fund is the standard investment option offering 70% investment in growth assets and 30% investment in defensive assets. If the standard option does not suit your investment needs you also have the option to choose from 31 different investment portfolios.
Features:
- Easy and flexible contributions
- Minimum contributions of around $20 per week, payable as $87.89 per month including fees
- You are not locked into any payment contracts and have the flexibility to suspend contributions and restart at a later date
- Payments are automatically debited from your nominated account
- No roll over fees to consolidate your super plans
- Online services so that you can:
- View your account balance and investment information
- Check superannuation accumulation
- Download statements and forms
- Inflation protection
- The Super fund is linked to inflation to protect your investment and you will be notified of any contribution changes in February each year to take effect in March
- Option for the life insurance attached to your super to provide peace of mind and financial stability for your family should something occur to you.
Fees and Charges
All super funds charge fees to cover their costs to administer the fund. Business Super Directions offers a reduction in all fees and charges by enabling you to be part of a national group instead of an individual plan.
FEES PAYABLE
All fees include applicable GST
|
| FDCA Fees |
Application Fee (once only)
covers the cost to establish your Super Plan (FDCA members only)
|
$8.25 |
Administration Fee
Payable per contribution to cover administration costs and bank charges
|
$1.89 |
| AXA Fees |
Rollover Fee
|
$0.00 |
Contribution Fee
|
$0.00 |
Membership Fee
Payable per week and deducted from your fund on a monthly basis
|
$1.11 |
Asset Fee
|
1% |
Investment Managers Fee
|
Varies between each portfolio |
[back to top]
How Much Super Do You Really Need?
While the Age Pension provides people with enough money to survive, you need to decide what lifestyle you want in retirement and this will determine the amount you need to invest in super. To help you get thinking we have provided the following case study:
Kelly is 30 years old and is a self employed family day care carer. She is currently earning $45,000 per year and has already accumulated $20,000 in her super fund from this and previous jobs.
Kelly is a balanced investor which means she is prepared to take a few risks but also wants some low risk investment in her portfolio.
Let's look at a couple of scenarios which are based on Kelly continuing to earn $45,000 per annum to age 65 and indicates the income she woudl be able to draw from her super to age 85
| Contribution |
Superannuation Balance |
Income from Superannuation Benefits |
| No further contributions |
$78,922 |
$1542 per year
$29.65 per week
|
| Personal Deductable Contribution of $100 per month ($23.08 per week) |
$198,450 |
$3,878 per year
$74.57 per week
|
| Personal Deductable Contribution of $200 per month ($46.15 per week) |
$317,978 |
$6,214 per year
$119.50 per week
|
As you can see, the additional income from Kelly contributing to her super will provide her with a more comfortable lifestyle than if she was just relying on the Age Pension.
[back to top]
Key to Your Success
The key to your success is planning and County Group Financial Strategies' dedicated team of Financial Planning professionals use proven financial strategies to help you achieve your goals faster and safer. They will assist you in setting plans for the future and will review your progress regularly to keep you on track.
County Group Financial Strategies is also able to provide a comprehensive range of services to help secure your financial future.
Super is complex and we encourage you to contact County Group Fianancial Strategies on:
- FREECALL 1800 645 603
- Fax 08 8361 9358
- Email admin@countygroup.com.au
or your finanical advisor to obtain more specific information about the tax advantages available and to discuss your financial plans.
[back to top]
How to Start Your Super
Simply complete an application form
Once we have received your application, you will recieve the following documents from AXA:
- Business Super Directions Product Disclosure Statement
- Various forms including:
- Change to member preferences giving you the option to either remain in the standard fund or choose from one of the 31 investment portfolios
- Rollover form
- Beneficiary nomination form
- Insurance application giving you the option of taking life insurance
[back to top]
About County Group Financial Strategies
County Group Financial Strategies was founded in 1986 and has grown to one of the leading financial planning businesses within the Charter Financial Planning Network.
In 1996 FDCA and County Group Financial Strategies established a super plan for family day care carers.
In addition to offering the Family Day Care Industry Super Fund, County Group Financial Strategies are licensed Finacial Advisers who are able to provide carers and their families with a full Financial Planning service upon request.
To learn more about County Group Financial Strategies visit www.countygroup.com.au.
[back to top]
About AXA Australia
AXA Australia is a member of the Global AXA Group. AXA commenced in 1720 as Royal Exchange Assurance. Since then they have grown significantly and became known as AXA in 1985. Today AXA is a world leader in financial protection and wealth management, with major operations in Western Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific area.
To learn more about AXA visit www.axa.com.au.
[back to top]
Legal Information
General Advice Warning
All advice provided on this webpage is of a general nature only and is based on current laws and their interpretation. the application of taxation and superannuation laws will depend on individual circumstances. Before making any investment decisions, we recommend you consult a financial adviser to take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation and individual needs. Charter Financial Planning and its Authorised Representatives do not accept any liability for any errors or omissions of information supplied on this webpage.
Case Study Assumptions
Kelly is self employed and not having any superannuation contributed on her behalf by an employer. Taxation benefits that she would receive (via tax deductions on the contributions) have not been taken into account.
In addition, a number of assumptions have been made in preparing these projections. These are as follows:
- Management fees of 2% are applicable to Kelly's investment
- Kelly would achieve a return of 6% net of tax and gross of charge
- Inflation is assumed at 3%
- In determining the annual income supported by Kelly's superannuation at retirement, we have assumed payments until age 85 at which point her funds will be reduced to nil.
[back to top]
Contact Details
Joining the Fund
Family Day Care Industry Super Plan
1800 645 603
Once your fund is established
To obtain information regarding your fund please contact County Group Financial Strategies.
County Group Financial Strategies
PO Box 657
NORTH ADELAIDE SA 5006
To make any changes to monthly contributions please contact Family Day Care Australia.
