# What is the Cheapest Superannuation Fund?



## Spanning Tree (27 September 2008)

Next year I will start a new job and my employer will give me Vicsuper unless I opt for another eligible super fund.

I am extremely unhappy with the fees these managed funds charge as well as the way they shift fees from one place to another to make it hard for you to compare one fund to another. For example, Vicsuper has low MER of 0.5% but if you select the equity growth (high growth) option according to their PDS you incur indirect MER of 0.49% on top of that, so effectively you have an MER of 0.99% which is pretty high. On the plus side, Vicsuper has fees capped at $1500 per year. 

Many of those misleading industry super fund ads claim to have "low fees" but their MERs are about 0.8% 

One promising fund is Sunsuper, which has an option whereby you can invest in an ASX200 index fund from SSgA with MER of only 0.15% (lowest MER I've found so far) but the problem is Sunsuper charges $1 per week members fee and 0.05% admin fee.

In my opinion, there should be some APRA regulation on how super funds present their fees. 

So which eligible super fund do you use? What do you recommend?

I have been thinking about SMSFs but I have heard some scare stories about their being too complicated and costly.


----------



## Julia (27 September 2008)

There is nothing complicated about SMSF's as long as you follow the rules and keep clear and accurate records.

There are a few organisations now online which will offer you a package for the set up, the Trust Deed, and ongoing management.  E-super is one.  Someone else will come up with the others.

Alternatively you can find your own accountant who will arrange the Trust Deed and initial set up.  Prices for this vary enormously.   Then you need to allow for the ongoing tax return and audit each year, cost of which can be from $1000 to very, very much more, depending on the level of work involved and whether the accountant is honest or not.  I've now had two experiences with accountants who have charged twice what they have quoted.


----------



## Wysiwyg (21 December 2010)

Julia said:


> There are a few organisations now online which will offer you a package for the set up, the Trust Deed, and ongoing management.  E-super is one.  Someone else will come up with the others.




I was contemplating an SMS Fund and last time I looked at E-Superfund they were charging $599 per year to populate the spaces and print from master copies for annual reporting.

Browsing again and they are now charging $699, a $100 (16%) increase. Anyone receive notice or explanation for this? It seems a hefty leap for the basic populate and print.


----------

