Super strategies for small business owners

For the 2.5 million small businesses out there¹, managing the day-to-day can take the focus away from the years to come. Meeting obligations as an employer – including contributing to your employees’ super – often comes before you consider your own savings for retirement.

As a sole trader or partner in a business, you don’t need to pay yourself super. But getting your super back on track is a positive step to a more comfortable retirement.

Even as a small business owner, it’s likely you have one – or even more – super accounts from what you have done earlier in your working life. This is a great place to start to build super for your retirement.

And if do you have more than one super account, consolidating your balance into your primary account can be one of the quickest and easiest ways you can give your super a boost and save on fees.

You can search for lost super online via myGov or you can consolidate your super through Member Online or our app, and it only takes a few minutes.

Read more about what to consider when combining your super here. Before you combine your super, please consider if the timing is right and if you will lose access to benefits such as insurance or pension options, or if there are tax implications.

Even small increases in your investment returns can have a big impact on your super balance at retirement. Read Understanding ART’s performance for more.

ART has three different investment strategies:

1. The Lifecycle investment strategy – if you don’t make any choice about where you want your super invested.

On the other hand, if you would like more say in where your super is invested with ART, you have 15 super investment options to choose from across:

2. Diversified options – these investment options offer diversification by investing in a few different asset classes (like shares, infrastructure, and fixed income) at once.

3. Asset class options – these investment options invest in specific asset classes, such as International Shares or Unlisted assets.

Learn more about ART’s investment options on our website. You can check how your super funds are currently invested by logging in to Member Online or our app. If you think it might be worth exploring a different investment strategy you can start by taking our risk profile quiz to see what type of investment options may suit you.

Before making any changes, we recommend speaking with a financial adviser to understand how it could affect your super.

Making voluntary contributions as you go can be an effective way to grow your super if you’re worried about your balance.

As an employer there are different ways you can make voluntary contributions. These might include salary sacrifice or a lump-sum transfer from business revenue. You can use our super contributions calculator to see how making extra contributions could change your super balance.

There are limits on how much you can contribute to super each year. To find out more visit our website here or speak to a financial adviser.

You might also be thinking about how your business may help fund your retirement when the time comes. There are a number of options available if you take this approach, so it’s worth seeking advice to understand what they are and what might work for you so you can consider this in your plans.