What type of fund can you join?
Fund rules control who may join.
There are five basic types of funds:
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Corporate funds |
Generally only open to people working for a particular employer or corporation. |
|
Public sector funds |
Generally open to Commonwealth and State Government employees. |
|
Industry funds |
Sometimes open to everyone. Otherwise you can join if you work in a particular industry or under a particular industrial award and your employer signs up with the fund. |
|
Retail funds |
Open to everyone. They are run by financial institutions. |
|
Self-managed super funds |
Open only to you and up to three other people (who cannot be your employees). |
In order to obtain special concessions you must join a 'complying' super fund that meets legal standards. Generally the types of fund listed above are complying super funds.
Otherwise, super can be paid into a 'retirement savings account', a special deposit account with banks or other deposit-taking institutions. (For amounts of $10,000 or more, you may wish to consider other super arrangements that may give a greater return over the long term)