6 ways to grow your super balance

6 ways to grow your superannuation

1. Choose a low-fee, high-performing fund

Superannuation fees eat into your returns, so the more you pay in fees, the less you'll have left when you retire. Each super fund charges different annual admin fees, investment fees and indirect fees. This can make it a difficult and confusing process when you're trying to compare funds. As a general rule, if you're paying over 1.5-2% of your super balance in fees each year, this is considered to be on the expensive side.

While past performance isn't an indicator of future performance, it's wise to look for a super fund with a long history of strong returns. To do this, take a look at the returns over 5 and 10-year periods, instead of just looking at the past 1 year's performance. The better your fund performs, the higher your super balance will be.

You can compare super funds with our comparison guide, or see our best super fund picks if you'd like a little more help choosing.

2. Salary sacrifice into your super

You can elect to contribute a portion of your salary or wages into your super via the process of salary sacrifice. With this process, the money you elect to send into your super is directed from your income before you pay tax on it. This means that the money will be taxed at the concessional super rate of 15% instead of your marginal tax rate, which could be up to 45%.

Because you're effectively reducing your take-home pay, you'll also be reducing your taxable income in the process. Adding an extra $10-$20 a week into your super when you're young can help you retire with tens of thousands of dollars more. You can learn more about how this process works in our salary sacrificing guide.

3. Make extra contributions

If you don't want to set up an ongoing salary sacrifice arrangement, you can choose to make one-off payments into your fund. Your employer is legally obligated to pay you super as part of the compulsory superannuation guarantee. However, you can also make additional contributions to your super at any point in the year.

There are limits in place around how much you can contribute. Currently (as of July 2024), you can contribute up to $30,000 in concessional contributions (these are pre-tax contributions like what your employer pays and money you contribute via salary sacrifice). You can also contribute another $120,000 a year in non-concessional contributions (these are after-tax contributions which aren't taxed at the lower super rate, but still help your balance grow).

"Concessional contributions - such as the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) and salary sacrifice are 'easy', as they are facilitated by your employer. SG is mandatory for your employer to pay, salary sacrifice is not - but once you set up salary sacrifice, your employer makes it happen for you every pay cycle. Non-concessional contributions require a little more thought from you but the best way to make these happen is to set up some automations. This could be setting up a direct debit into your super on pay day (or any form of regular income) or starting every shopping journey with Grow My Money. This shopping platform pays you cashback from every purchase you make with over 1500 of Australia's leading retailers, both online and instore."

Pascale Helyar-Moray

Superannuation expert

4. Accept more risk

Generally, the greater the risk, the greater the potential return. If you're comfortable, consider switching your investments to a higher-risk option. Most Australians are in the default super option, which is generally a Balanced or Growth option. Take a look at the High Growth option and see if you're comfortable switching to this, instead.

One of the best ways to get more from your super involves adopting an age-based investment strategy. This includes working out how much risk you can afford to take based on your years to retirement. Age is crucial because if you have longer to wait until your retirement, you'll have more time to recover from a major setback and can comfortably accept more risk.

Finder survey: What investment risk level are Australians most commonly exposed to?

5. Start early, make more

Starting to save from an early age can make a huge difference to how much you have when you retire, mainly due to the power of compounding. For example, if someone saved $10,000 a year for 20 years while someone else saved the same amount for 35 years, both earning a return of 6% a year, the 20-year compounding amount would generate $367,856 compared to the 35-year saver which would generate $1,114,348 – more than three times as much.

So, if you're planning to start adding more to your super later on in life, you should consider doing it now instead.

6. Combine your superannuation into one fund

If you have worked several jobs, chances are you have contributed to various funds that you may have lost track of. Take time to contact all your super funds and consolidate your superannuation into one fund. This way, you can stop paying multiple sets of super fees. If you have more than one super fund, read our guide on how to consolidate your super.

To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been reviewed by Pascale Helyar-Moray, a member of Finder's Editorial Review Board.

Written by

Alison Banney

Editorial Manager, Money

Alison is an editor at Finder and a personal finance journalist with over 10 years of experience, having contributed to major financial institutions and publications such as Westpac, Money Magazine, and Yahoo Finance. She is frequently quoted in media outlets like SmartCompany and SBS, offering expert insights on superannuation and money management. Alison holds a Bachelor of Communications in Public Relations and Journalism from the University of Newcastle, and has earned three ASIC RG146 certifications in superannuation, securities and managed investments and general financial advice, ensuring her expertise is fully aligned with ASIC standards. See full bio

Alison's expertise

Alison has written 655 Finder guides across topics including:

• Superannuation
• Savings accounts, bank accounts and term deposits
• Budgeting and money-saving hacks
• Managing the cost of living