Just about anyone can join Equipsuper. So long as you are under age 75, it doesn't matter if you are employed, unemployed or self-employed. You can join Equipsuper as a personal superannuation or pension member, or through your employer as an Equipsuper Corporate member.
Equipsuper Personal Superannuation
If you want to open a personal superannuation account that you can take with you throughout your life, Equipsuper Personal may be right for you. If you employer offers you 'choice of fund' you can have employer contributions paid into your Equipsuper Personal account. Your spouse can also set up an Equipsuper Personal account into which you can pay spouse contributions. Equipsuper Personal is flexible and adaptable to your ever-changing circumstances, so you can stick with us right through your career.
Key features:
- Different types of contributions can be made to your personal account including your employer Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contributions, spouse contributions and any personal contributions you might decide to make.
- You can combine all your super in to one by rolling your other super into your Equipsuper Personal account.
- If your employer offers Choice of Fund, you can nominate Equipsuper as your 'choice' super fund.
- If you change jobs, you don't need to change your super fund.
- You can choose from investment options to suit your personal and financial goals.
- You can maintain death and Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD) insurance cover even if you take a break from work.
- When you decide to retire, or wind down your working hours, you can transfer your super into an Equipsuper Pension.
To join:
Joining is easy. You can open an Equipsuper Personal account into which your employer can pay your SG and salary sacrifice contributions, or simply deposit an opening contribution of $1,000*. Please refer to the Equipsuper Personal Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for full details.
* Please note that if your account balance is eroded by fees and/or insurance premiums and drops below $1,000 and you make no additional contributions over a 12-month period, then Equipsuper may transfer your account balance into its Eligible Rollover Fund (ERF), AusFund. You can find more about our ERF policy in any Equipsuper PDS.
Equipsuper Pensions
Draw on your super before you retire!
You can start drawing on your superannuation benefit even before you retire using an Equipsuper Transition to Retirement Pension (TRP), as long as you have reached your superannuation preservation age. We recommend that you seek professional financial advice before setting up a TRP, as there are many considerations associated with drawing superannuation payments before retirement. For example, drawing superannuation income while you're still working can reduce the amount of retirement savings you have, unless your TRP is part of a well-considered financial strategy. There are minimum and maximum limits on the annual income you may take.
You should also remember that you generally pay no tax on superannuation payments received after you reach age 60, while you will pay tax on income from super before you reach that age.
Income after retirement
Equipsuper's Account Based Pension (ABP) provides regular income payments once you have fully retired and for as long as your benefit lasts. You can set up an ABP by transferring a minimum of $25,000 from your Equipsuper benefit, or a similar amount from any super fund. You can nominate how much annual income you want to receive and how frequently.
Working out how long your benefit will last and how much income you should receive can be quite challenging. We have set up a Super Calculator to provide you with some guidance on this. However, we strongly recommend you obtain advice from a professional financial advisor when planning your retirement.
Don't just take our word for it!
If you want to check out what SuperRatings said about our Account Based Pension, just download the SuperRatings Fundamentals report on it.
To join:
Joining is easy. You can start an Equipsuper TRP or ABP by transferring the required amount from your Equipsuper benefit and/or super you have with any other fund. Please refer to the Equipsuper Pensions PDS for full details.
Equipsuper Corporate
If you are joining Equipsuper as your employer's nominated Employer Fund, you become an Equipsuper Corporate member. For most people, this means joining through EquipExpress, or as a member of an accumulation plan specifically customised for your employer.
Your EquipExpress PDS or Equipsuper Corporate PDS provides details of the benefits you will receive, as well as investment choices, insurance cover and the fees and costs applicable to your membership. Your PDS includes either a Membership Application or Membership Options form. You must complete this form if you wish to invest your super in an investment option other than the default Balanced Growth option and/or want to increase your insurance cover^ and/or nominate your beneficiaries (dependants who you would prefer to receive your superannuation benefits if you die).
In rare instances, your employer may be offer you the opportunity to join Equipsuper as a defined benefit member. In this case, you should refer to the Equipsuper Corporate PDS applicable to your defined benefit plan for details.
Don't just take our word for it!
If you want to check out what SuperRatings said about Equipsuper Corporate superannuation, just download the SuperRatings Fundamentals report on it.
^ Please note that you will be automatically accepted for a minimum level of insurance cover, but if your accumulation plan allows automatic acceptance for a higher level of cover, you are required to lodge the form within a certain timeframe specified in the Equipsuper PDS applicable to your membership.
This website is for general information only. It has been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider whether this information is appropriate to your personal circumstances before acting on it and, if necessary, you should also seek professional financial advice. Where tax information is included you should consider obtaining personal taxation advice. If you are considering investing in the Equipsuper Superannuation Fund, you should read the appropriate Equipsuper Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) before making an investment decision. Neither Equipsuper, nor any employees or directors of Equipsuper, guarantee the repayment of capital or the performance of the Fund. Past performance is not an indication of future performance.
