Accessing your super early….what are the conditions?

Are you thinking about accessing your super before you reach 60? Do you think you can access super early for non-critical medical procedures or lifestyle expenses? If you are, then don’t fall foul of the associated risks.

Whilst we can’t provide financial advice on the above, we can advise you to be careful to consider your circumstances and the impacts it can have both short and long term.

Access to super on compassionate grounds is available in very limited circumstances for critical medical procedures and should only be considered as a last resort where all other options of paying for the eligible expenses have been exhausted.

Generally, the ability to access your superannuation early can be for:

  1. Access on compassionate grounds – eg medical treatment for you or your dependant, modifications for your home to accommodate you or your dependant arising from a severe disability, palliative care, death, funeral or burial expenses for your dependant, preventing foreclosure of your home
  2. Access due to a terminal medical condition
  3. Access due to severe financial hardship
  4. Access due to temporary incapacity
  5. Access due to permanent incapacity

The ATO have released a raft of reasons they’ve received for accessing super early. These include:

  • ‘My dentist advised me I can use my superannuation for cosmetic veneers’
  • ‘Just fudge the form, everybody does it and the ATO will never find out’ – where an individual relies on the assistance of a 3rd party to complete/review their application, ensure the information is accurate. Penalties can apply for providing misleading or false information
  • ‘I can access my superannuation for cosmetic treatments’ – medical treatments undertaken solely for cosmetic intent would not normally qualify for early release of super. The treatment must be to either:

– Treat a life threatening illness/injury

– Alleviate acute or chronic pain

– Alleviate acute or chronic mental illness

  • ‘I can access my superannuation for investments, holidays and day-to-day expenses’ – Accessing super on compassionate grounds is only available in very limited circumstances where individuals are unable to pay for an eligible expense using any other means.

If in doubt of any of the above, please contact your superannuation provider to ensure you comply with all the requirements of accessing your super early.

 

Author

Kim Jay