Developing a retirement strategy and then helping clients to implement it to achieve their lifestyle goals is what drives me and gives me job satisfaction.
Garth CollingwoodFinancial Planner SSFS
SASS
SASS is a hybrid scheme - which is a mixture of defined and accumulative benefits. The defined part of your benefit is based on a unique formula which means your final payment will not be affected by market conditions when you retire. The accumulative side will be subject to market returns.
Importance of your points
If you’re a member of SASS your benefit is made up of 3 parts:
- Personal Account;
- Employer Financed Benefit (EFB) – a defined benefit based on your Final Average Salary (FAS), length of membership and your rate of personal contributions; and
- Basic Benefit – a defined benefit equal to 3% of your Final Average Salary.
For every 1% of your salary which you contribute to your SASS scheme, you’ll accrue approximately 1 benefit point. Each benefit point you accrue will generally provide you with an Employer Financed Benefit of 2.5% times your Final Average Salary. So, the more you contribute from your salary, the more benefit points you get and the greater your Employer Financed Benefit will be.
You can contribute up to 9% of your salary to SASS, however excess contributions (above 6% per year) may not increase your Employer Financed Benefit, though they will earn interest and increase your Personal Account benefit.
You can accrue a maximum of 6 benefit points per year and an overall maximum total of 180 benefit points. It’s important you make sure you’re accumulating the right number of points so that you can maximise your final end benefit payment when you finally exit the scheme.
Your financial planning team at SSFS can design an appropriate strategy that helps you optimise your position based on your individual circumstances and your current and future needs and objectives. And as part of your member service you have access to a range of financial planning services all without cost or obligation.
Make sure you’re maximising the benefits which come from being a member of SASS. Give your member service team a call on 1800 620 305 and speak to the experts in your scheme choices.
Investment choice contributory member of SASS
SASS offers members four Asset Allocation options. These range from a conservative Cash option (100% cash) to a more aggressive Growth option (21.1% defensive, 78.9% growth assets). If you don’t make an investment choice, the automatic investment choice default is the Growth fund. The investment choices you make will only apply to your personal contributions. Your Employer Financed Benefit, which is usually the largest portion of your super, won’t be affected by your investment choice or market conditions. This means that the default growth strategy may be the most appropriate for contributory scheme members as, overall, your super benefit remains quite conservatively invested.
However, it’s important you make sure your asset allocation strategy is appropriate to your circumstances. That’s why you should speak with your professional financial planning team at SSFS who can take you through the different multi-fund investment strategies and proportional asset allocations which are available and provide you with the decision support you need.
If you’re a deferred SASS benefit member there are different rules which apply to your investment choice and it’s important you understand the impact the application of these rules will have on your investments before you make any decisions.
Concessional Contributions Caps for SASS Members
For most of us there are limits to the amount of concessional, or before tax, contributions we can make tax effectively into our super. However special conditions do apply for SASS members.
Members of the State Authorities Superannuation Scheme (SASS) receive favourable treatment in the calculation of concessional contributions.
If SASS is your only super fund, you usually cannot exceed the concessional contributions cap. That’s because under special regulations applying to defined benefits funds, a SASS member who would otherwise exceed the cap is deemed to be within the cap.
However, members will lose this special treatment permanently if their Benefit Category is changed on 1 April 2010 or if they subsequently increase personal contributions and move into a higher Benefit Category.
Your Benefit Category is determined by your personal contribution rate.
Even when the special conditions apply, if a SASS member is making any additional concessional contributions to another fund, you should ensure total contributions across all super accounts are within the cap.
Employer concessional contributions to SASS are calculated as a percentage of superable salary. The actual percentage to use depends on a member’s predecessor scheme:
| Your Contribution Rate (and Benefit Category) | Percentage to use in formula |
|---|---|
| 3% or less | 6% |
| 4% | 7.2% |
| 5% | 9.6% |
| 6% or more | 10.8% |
| Your Contribution Rate (and Benefit Category) | Percentage to use in formula |
|---|---|
| 3% or less | 6% |
| 4% | 8.4% |
| 5% | 12% |
| 6% or more | 13.2% |
| Your Contribution Rate (and Benefit Category) | Percentage to use in formula |
|---|---|
| Up to and including 3.8% | 6% |
| Over 3.8% to 4.5% | 7.2% |
| Over 4.5% to 4.8% | 8.4% |
| Over 4.8% to 5.3% | 9.6% |
| Over 5.3% | 10.8% |
| Your Contribution Rate (and Benefit Category) | Percentage to use in formula |
|---|---|
| Up to and including 3.8% | 6% |
If you continue to work after you’ve reached 30 years of scheme membership and reached 180 points, then your employer concessional contributions will be 1.2% of your salary.
Of course, if you salary sacrifice your member contributions, these will also be counted.
Related Links
What’s the right SASS investment allocation?
Benefits of financial planning
Member service benefits
Attend a seminar
Call us 1800 620 305 |
