I interrupt my weekly finance Q&A column for a moment to share some thoughts on the 2019 edition of the Australian Government Budget, which went live this week.
I’ll admit it, once I was so pumped to watch the Budget speech that I skipped soccer training!
However, as each year goes by, I focus less and less on it. This is because there are so many hurdles that the proposals have to jump over that they may never come into law or look entirely different when they do.
This year I felt the same — but multiplied by 10 — because it was brought forward due to the election in May, adding an additional hurdle to getting proposals passed by Parliament. I actually think that the Opposition’s reply on Thursday night is of more importance as they’re the favourites to win the election.
The election campaign has now unofficially started and the battle lines are drawn, so get ready to get bombarded with politics!
Once the dust settles on Labor’s reply and more proposals are announced I’ll likely take notice of certain proposals, particularly if both parties are on the same page. But for the time being, I wouldn’t stress about what’s out of your control and may not affect you — definitely don’t skip soccer training!
Q: Should I make additional contributions to super?
Kyle’s Answer:
In short, Super is a scheme that saves you some tax. There’s no such thing as a free lunch so by contributing to super and saving tax you lose access to these funds until the age of 60 (for most of us).
Contributing extra to Super, particularly by making concessional contributions, will boost your Super and the money available to you at 60 (due to the tax savings). Your 60-year-old self will thank you, as the contributions and tax savings will compound over a long period. However, it may not be the best plan…
When we’re young we have competing goals and although we’d all like a bigger Super balance to enjoy at 60 we also might want to save for our first home, go on a holiday, pay the bills, pay for kids education, retire earlier than 60 or *insert goal here*.
For this reason, although contributing extra to Super is often a great financial decision it might not be the best life decision for you.
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