Why I told my Super fund to go jump
Dear Fellow Members,
As we are all aware, gloomy Federal Budget speculation has been rife lately, so I’ve decided my message this week should be on a cheerier note.
Since having come on board as your Chairman I’ve noticed a handful of particular issues dominate your messages and forum posts.
Switching is one of those at the top of the list.
Last week I told you of how my car was scratched and the repair cost came out of my pocket because it was just below my car insurance excess. After 30 years of loyal custom and no claims I believed I deserved better and I’m shopping around for a more equitable deal.
I had a similar experience a few years ago with my super. It was just post the global financial crisis and my super was with a major fund. Although it didn’t go backwards that year, as many did, nor did it make any gains through the fund. It remained static.
At the time, Federal Treasurer Peter Costello urged all of us to plough as much into super as possible and enjoy a marginal tax rate of just 15%.
My wife and I borrowed as much as we could against our mortgage, $80,000, and put it in the fund before the end of financial year. This was money we were paying home loan interest rates on.
Low and behold, that year I was charged the administration percentage fee based on my super having gone up by $80,000! Our $80,000. The fund didn’t earn a cent for us and we were charged for the increase we created.
I was outraged. The fund refused to reconsider the charge so I sacked them on the spot.
I switched.
My new fund has promised they would never do anything as unfair as that and promised they’d have definitely waived the fee that year.
The moral of that story is; don’t be bullied by the big guys.
The same applies for electricity.
It is impossible for me to reply to each of your comments individually, but it is clearly apparent this is a big ticket issue for you.
I’d like to share a comment with you from a member which sums it up from me.
Nerida from NSW wrote: “Electricity is Electricity, no matter where it comes from. If you can get it cheaper I can’t see the problem with switching. You won’t be locked in with Click Energy, so give it a go, you can always change again if not happy.”
Well said Nerida, and thanks for the post.
Enjoy your weekend, and rest assured the dedicated team here at FiftyUp Club, will be right across the Budget and how it will impact us.
More on that next week – for now, if you haven’t yet completed our two-minute Budget Survey, please do so now by clicking here.
Warmest Regards,
John
