This article is brought to you thanks to HESTA, an Industry Super Fund.

From 1 July 2019, members with inactive accounts could lose their insurance cover, and those with inactive low-balance accounts could be transferred to the Australian Tax Office (ATO).  

Recent government legislation, called Protecting Your Super, aims to stop members' savings being eaten away by fees.

That's a good thing, but you might need to take action to make sure the changes work for you.

In February 2019, a number of laws were passed through Parliament that will see changes to superannuation in the coming year. They are overall positive and may signal the end of super balances being eroded by unnecessary fees. The changes are due to commence from 1 July 2019.

Some of the changes will include:

• Fees: Accounts that have less than $6,000 will have their fees capped at 3% and all super fund exit fees will be banned

• Consolidation: Superannuation accounts which have not received a contribution for 16 months and have balances below $6,000 are known as inactive low balance accounts - these will be transferred to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) who will attempt to auto-consolidate the amounts into the member’s active account, if they have one and if the combined balance will be greater than $6,000

• The Pension Work Bonus will increase to $300 per fortnight, from $250. This allows pensioners to earn up to $300 each fortnight without reducing their Age Pension payments.

• Unpaid Super: The ATO can now apply for court-ordered penalties for employers who defy directions to make compulsory contributions on behalf of their employees

• Retirees will be able to make voluntary super contributions for the first year that they no longer meet the work test requirements

• Pension Loan Scheme has been expanded

Could this affect you?  To find out, click here to learn more or go to

https://www.hesta.com.au/content/hesta/staywithus.html