The State Budget and your super
15 July 2015
2
min read
The Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt handed down his inaugural State Budget yesterday.
As you may have heard, one of the announcements was that for the next five years, all Defined Benefit employer contributions will be used to pay down debt rather than be invested in the pool these assets are generally held in.
We understand that if you have a Defined Benefit account, this may seem like a worrying announcement, but we’d like to put your mind at ease.
The most important thing to remember is that if you have a Defined Benefit account, your benefit is guaranteed under both Commonwealth and State legislation.
That means your benefit cannot be reduced, and must be paid when you are entitled to claim it.
Additionally, the State Actuary has recently valued the Defined Benefit Scheme as being around $10 billion dollars in surplus, which means there is currently more money than is needed to pay out all the Define Benefit accounts held at QSuper.
The Government has also committed to the scheme staying in surplus over the next five years.
This announcement also has no impact on members who have Accumulation or Income accounts. The QSuper Board holds your money in trust, and it can never be accessed by the Government.
So essentially, whatever type of account you have, please rest assured this announcement will have no impact on your super, or your future retirement lifestyle.