Ask Paul: My wife stayed home with our kids, now her super is behind

Dear Paul,

My wife and I have a large discrepancy in our super balances, as she took time off when the kids were little and I earn a higher income.

Should we equalise the amounts before retirement? Is there a real benefit in that? Is there a super tax that will erode the benefit? I am not retiring for at least 12 years. - Robert

With your question, Robert, we are heading into an area where angels fear to tread, let alone a non super specialist like me.

This is particularly so with just a few lines of information.

But I can give you some general information starting with 'two limits are better than one'. Here I am referring to the transfer balance cap limiting the total amount of super that can be transferred from the accumulation phase to the tax-free retirement phase.

There are quite a few strategies that can be used here, but they are very much linked to your situation, your current super balances, your income and future plans.

It could also involve additional non-concessional contributions, depending on your financial situation.

To get this right, you need specialist advice. You could chat to your super fund, your tax or investment expert. Sorry to 'duck out' of giving you the answer you would like, but there is a lot of complexity behind what seems to be a pretty simple question.

I was looking at this issue as my balance is higher than my wife's for the same reason as yours.

I did some research, then gave up and went to the super expert in our tax adviser's practice.

Thank heavens I did. Super is no longer a generalist area; it is a specific field of advice.

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