How do I pick a super account for my 15-year-old son?

My son is 15 and has started some casual work. He needs to nominate a superannuation account. What would you suggest to set up for his first-ever superannuation account? I am worried about fees.

Any of the main industry funds would be fine for your son, I’d imagine. More significant than which super product you chose is which investment option he uses. By default, the fund will typically put money into the balanced option.

Picking your child’s first super account is less about the fund itself, and more about the investment options you choose.Credit: Simon Letch

But as your son can’t touch this money for an extremely long period of time, consider changing this to the most aggressive option that they offer. It will be a bit of a roller-coaster, but 50 odd years from now, he’ll be thankful.

Regarding fees, note that funds can’t charge more than 3 per cent in total fees for balances below $6000, so there is some protection here.

My husband and I (both early 60s) are newly retired and have been living off our savings. We have no debts and about $1.25 million each in super. We now need to commence drawing on our super, but are unsure how much to put into Retirement Phase. We anticipate a significant inheritance in the next few years.

Once you shift your superannuation savings into a pension, all earnings on those proceeds become tax-free. That being the case, I can’t see any drawbacks to you converting your entire superannuation balance to pensions.

Pensions do have a minimum drawing requirement. Sometimes people are reluctant to shift into pension because they struggle with the idea of money coming out that perhaps they don’t require.

However, there is no necessity to spend this pension income, so if the minimum drawing requirements are more than you need, you can simply invest these outside of the superannuation system. Potentially you could even do non-concessional super contributions with these funds through until you reach age 75.

Regarding your future inheritance, if the amount is substantial, you may benefit from adding what you can into your super, as you will still have room available within your transfer balance cap.

While you can’t contribute to an existing pension account, you can open a new accumulation account if needed. If the inheritance exceeds your super contribution limits, you will likely invest the excess in your personal name, making it subject to tax. This underscores the importance of maximising the amount in tax-free pensions, to optimise your overall financial efficiency.

Your scenario is certainly one where you would benefit from having a relationship with a financial planner.

We have two children who we want to give money to in the next five years. Can we access $20,000 from our super for this purpose? We are 62 and 63 and will retire at 65. We have some cash savings and are wondering whether we should be adding this to our super.

To access money from superannuation, you need to satisfy a condition of release. The easiest one to satisfy is reaching age 65. At that point, it doesn’t matter whether you are working or not, your superannuation is accessible. So if the gifts are to occur beyond this age, no problem.

Before that, though, you can access superannuation from age 60, but you need to have had a period where you were not working. On the information you’ve provided here, it’s not obvious that you would satisfy this requirement. Therefore, your decision would be based on whether the gifts will happen before or after you turn 65.

Paul Benson is a Certified Financial Planner at Guidance Financial Services. He hosts the Financial Autonomy podcast. Questions to: [e-mail]

• Advice given in this article is general in nature and is not intended to influence readers’ decisions about investing or financial products. They should always seek their own professional advice that takes into account their own personal circumstances before making any financial decisions.

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