A new year has started and it’s time for resolutions. While many people make resolutions regarding health and wellbeing, perhaps it’s time for resolutions about financial health and wellbeing and about your future, in particular your retirement future.

A good place to start is to determine if your superannuation doing enough to provide for your retirement.

While the rules have changed to make it a bit easier to add to super for longer, the earlier you start the more impact it has on the benefits you can access in retirement.

We all lead busy lives, but a quick review now can make a substantial difference and the earlier you start the greater the potential for growth.

1. Review Your Super Fund(s)

How many super funds do you have? Do you have any “lost” super accounts? Have you thought about consolidating your super accounts?

As we change jobs, particularly when younger, we probably don’t pay much attention to our super contributions and where they are going. The more super funds you have, the more likely it is that you are paying fees in all of these funds.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has a lost super facility which can help you track down your superannuation accounts. Your MyGov account also now has information on superannuation and retirement.

2. Review your Super Fund’s performance

When was the last time you checked how your super was invested?

It is important to remember that superannuation is only an investment vehicle, the actual money in super is then invested into financial instruments. These could be cash or interest-bearing products, listed shares, managed funds, infrastructure or property products.

Different types of investment products come with different types of risk and different levels of return.

The higher the risk the higher the potential return, but this also increase the risk that the investment doesn’t provide growth but could provide negative returns or even fail.

Have you thought about how much risk you are willing to take with your retirement funds?  Generally, the older we get the less risk we like.

If you are not confident reviewing the performance of your superannuation fund, perhaps consider seeking financial advice from a licenced financial advisor. Some large superannuation funds also offer financial advice services.

3. Can you make additional employer contributions to super?

Your employer is obliged to make superannuation guarantee contributions based on 10.5% of your salary or wage. But the annual limit for employer and salary sacrifice contributions is $27,500 per annum.

This may mean that you can make additional salary sacrifice contributions to super to maximise your superannuation benefits.

This will, of course, reduce your take-home income but does provide a tax benefit, if the contributions are made to a regulated superannuation fund they are only taxed at 15%, rather than the money being in your hands and taxed at your personal marginal tax rate.

If you are not sure how this works, you should talk to your financial adviser or superannuation fund and they will be able to assist you.

Again, getting more money into super sooner will increase your retirement benefits.

4. What about personal superannuation contributions?

The annual limit for after tax personal contributions is $110,000 per annum or $330,000 over a three-year period.

This can provide an opportunity to top up super if you have the ability to do so. You may have come into extra cash via a windfall gain or inheritance or sale of an asset.

These contributions can be made by anyone up to the age of 75 years, even if you are not working.

The ATO recently changed the rules around “Downsizer Contributions”.

Now if you are over 55 years of age and you have sold a principal place of residence it may be possible to contribute up to $300,000 per member from the proceeds of the property sale.

This is primarily aimed at older Australians who are looking to retire and downsize their primary residence.

But the rules are not that strict.

You have to have owned the property for more than 10 years, it must be eligible as principal place of residence and the monies must be contributed within three months of settlement. Check with your accountant or financial adviser for full details if you think you might be eligible.

But there is also a benefit in making even smaller after tax contributions, even for those at lower income levels.

The government, via the ATO, will match up to $500 of after tax contributions for those on incomes up to $57,000. So even $10 per week contributed to super can make a difference. The earlier you start, the greater the advantage.

5. Are your SMSF tax affairs in order?

The ATO has announced that it will be taking stricter action around Self Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSFs) that do not have their tax affairs in order.

The ATO already removes SMSF details from SuperFund Lookup if the SMSF Annual Return is not lodged on time.

This means that the SMSF cannot receive rollovers from other superannuation funds of received employer contributions made via SuperStream. This can be rectified by bringing the SMSF tax affairs into order.

However, the ATO is now proposing to cancel the Australian Business Number (ABN) for SMSFs that have not lodged the funds’ income tax returns by the relevant due date. This will essentially freeze the SMSF and your tax agent may not be able to help you.

This change is not yet law, but now is the time to review your SMSF.

Is it up to date? Should you contact your tax agent or SMSF administrator? Don’t wait, you don’t want to be caught out.