How much superannuation do I need for a Self Managed Super Fund to be viable?
It’s amazing how many enquiries we are getting about setting up a Self Managed Superannuation Fund but the very first question that everyone asks is how much they need to have as superannuation.
The answer to this question is as simple as “how long is a piece of string?”. Or perhaps a better answer would be “It depends”.
The main factor is how much are you prepared to pay in annual fees as a percentage of your fund assets.
These fees include ongoing accountant and audit fees but if you assume ongoing fees of $2,000 (and assume that these do not vary significantly based on the size of the self managed superannuation fund), the important aspect is to consider what these fees represent as a percentage of the superannuation fund assets.
For instance, if the fund has assets of $100,000, then the fee as a percentage is 2% but if the fund has assets of $250,000, then the fee as a percentage drops down to just 0.8% and because of this, most people consider that the absolute minimum that you need to have in superannuation is $100,000.
Remember, a SMSF can have up to 4 members, (although the vast majority are 2 member, husband and wife funds), and the thresholds mentioned above are the combined account balances of each member’s benefits in the SMSF.
