Firstly, I'd say that good advice early on in any new undertaking from an adviser can be helpful. Super has a lot of changing legislation, thresholds, age limits, twists and turns to navigate so it's often not a bad idea to sit down with someone, pay the adviser fee, and map out a plan.
A few points;
- If you are in your mid 50's and have a low super balance, it's can be a good idea to build it up using wealth that's currently in your personal name.
Earnings on super are taxed @ 15% in accumulation phase (pre-retirement). Earnings on super are taxed at 0% in retirement phase for the first $1.7m of assets. Match these tax rates against your marginal tax rate for you as an individual.
- You can make contributions into super by way of cash, or in-specie (i.e. you can contribute shares currently held in your personal name into an SMSF). Making in-specie contributions of shares from your personal name could cause taxable income in your personal name though, so be careful of that. You need to transfer the asset from yourself to the SMSF at their market value, if there's a gain on that transfer, it's taxable income in your hands.
- You can make non-concessional contributions of $110,000 per annum, or use a 'bring forward' rule and contribute $330,000 in one year and effectively use up the next 2 years allowance. Non-concessional contributions are those made into the SMSF where no deduction is claimed in your personal / business name for the contribution made. It's basically after tax dollars / assets being contributed into the SMSF environment.
- You can make concessional contributions of $27,500 per annum. You can also use the unused carried forward concessional caps from prior years in the current year. For example, if you made $0 concessional contributions in 2021, you can make $52,500 in concessional contributions in 2022 ($25,000 cap from 2021, $27,500 cap in 2022). Concessional contributions are those where a deduction is claimed (e.g. in your personal tax return or by an employer), and are taxed at 15% going into the superfund. The unused carried forward concessional amounts can be made if yor super balance is less than $500k, so if you want to use these unused amounts, make the contributions before you hit your $500k member balance. Lots of tax planning opportunities around concessional contributions if you have mid/high levels of income in your personal name.
If you are in your mid-50's, you are right in the zone for being able to use up a couple of $330k 'bring forward' contributions, and plenty of annual concessional contributions / unused concessional caps if tax effective.
The other good thing with your age bracket is that you're going to be accessing the funds soon via pension, and there's less risk of legislative change trapping or adjusting your access to funds. As someone in their 30's, this is something I have to consider.
The above is a broad overview, to give a general idea of ow you could get funds into the super environment if you wanted. IMO if you are considering it, a meeting with an adviser might be a good idea so they can assess your exact circumstances and goals.
