Your June newsletter from CSC

Each quarter, we send an email newsletter to our customers to keep you in the loop on the latest super updates

Member newsletter - June 2019

It’s now a few months since I joined CSC and I’m really enjoying getting to know more of you, and hearing your stories about how we’ve helped you and how we can do better. It was great to be part of the Mother’s Day classic in Canberra recently, seeing so many of you and your families walking, running or volunteering for this great cause. We are very proud to be a long term sponsor of this day. I also joined one of our new customer seminars recently, specifically designed for women, but filled with great information for everyone. Please take advantage of these seminars when they happen in your area.

Please enjoy our June newsletter and feel free to send your comments, feedback or suggestions to me at YourSuper@csc.gov.au

Peter Jamieson
Chief Customer Officer
Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation

We’re on the slippery-slope towards the end of the financial year, and money is on a lot of people’s minds. Is super something you’re thinking about at this time of year? It certainly should be! There are some simple things you can do now to help you get on track.

Having your super in one account could mean less paperwork and reduced fees, which can mean more savings in the long run.

Whatever your situation, our authorised financial planners can help you lay out a step-by-step path to help get where you want to be.

Little things can make a big impact, topping up your super is easy and can make a significant difference to your final balance over the long term—unlock the power of compound returns!

We care about making sure your retirement savings will be there when you retire and you have the income you need in retirement. Have you reviewed your investment option? Does it suit where you are in life and where you want to be in retirement?

The end of the financial year also means that it’s almost annual statement time. If you have chosen to receive your statement electronically, we will send you an email in early August letting you know that your statement is ready to view by logging into your online account. It’s a good idea to check your junk mail or spam folders just in case our emails are ending up there (we know this happens sometimes).

If you’ve chosen to receive your statement by post, we’ll start sending these out in the first week of September.
Please make sure your contact details are up-to-date—you can check or update these details in your online account.

We recently spoke to a number of our customers about their level of financial literacy and confidence. One of the common questions you asked us was, how can being in a relationship change your financial outlook? One of our authorised^* financial planners has some advice to offer. “It’s great to feel like you have your personal finances under control. However, if you’re in a relationship, your personal finances are only part of the equation.” Read more

Super can be a tax-effective way to save for the lifestyle you want after you stop working. Tax rates on super are often a lot lower than regular tax on income and normal investment earnings. This means, salary sacrificing into super can be a double-whammy when it comes to saving for your future. Read more

One of the most common grievances we heard from you is that it’s difficult to reach us over the phone. We’ve been doing a lot to try to make this better for you, we’re making sure more information is available online, we’ve hired more team members into our contact centre, and now we’ve set up our secure self-service phone system that’s available 24 hours a day, any day.
Through our self-service system you can set up your online account, reset your password, or request a copy of some documents. For more complex requests, or if you prefer to talk to a person, our customer care representatives will still be available during business hours to help with your requests.

CSC’s authorised^* financial planners are dedicated to getting to know you and what you want out of life. No matter what kind of advice you need, our financial planners are there to help you lay out a path to get there, step by step.

Watch here

We’ve created this community for our customers to access the inspiration, guidance and advice to help them make the most of their retirement … the 3rd Act of their lives.

Join the crew at csc.gov.au/Members/Retirement/3rd-act-community

CSC were proud sponsors of the Mother's Day Classic for 2019. The fun-filled day saw participants from across Canberra run, walk, and jazzercise their way to raising money for breast cancer research. The large crowd of walkers and runners were not deterred by the foggy morning or the dreary skies, showing up for the event with big smiles and a lot of heart.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade took home the coveted CSC trophy for the largest government team—the group of more than 50 participants ran for their beautiful friend and colleague, Lisa.
Our fantastic Grads were on the ground to livestream the excitement of the event as they took over our Instagram account—you can see what they got up to here, instagram.com/commsupercorp #MDC2019

Thanks again to everyone who has responded to our customer surveys. Because of your feedback, we have developed an ‘about us’ video to explain the basics of super with CSC, we’re sending new letters and collateral to our customers with preserved super, and we are making constant improvements to our website. We’re going to be making some further changes to the way we gather your ideas, watch this space for more information.

On Monday 18 February, the ‘Protecting Your Super Package’ (PYSP) was passed by Parliament. The package introduces a number of changes that mostly affect accumulation superannuation products—like PSSap and ADF Super—and account based income streams—like CSCri. These changes are due to come into effect from 1 July 2019.

While the PYSP changes apply to some defined benefit schemes, CSC's defined benefit schemes (such as CSS, PSS, and MilitarySuper) are not impacted by these changes.

Read more

In case you missed it, we recently advised you of an increase in our admin fee for PSSap, that will come into effect on 1 July 2019. As a -profit-for-customers fund, we try to keep fees as low as possible by only charging fees to cover the costs of operating the fund. CSC only introduced an administration fee five years ago and that fee hasn’t changed since, but our operating costs have increased significantly during this time. Due to recent changes introduced by the Protecting Your Superannuation Package measures, and our increased operating costs, we’ve had to increase administration fees by $2 per month. Read more

Not-so-fun fact: more than 80% of women are currently retiring without enough super to fund a comfortable lifestyle.
What are we doing about it?
We have developed a ‘Women and Super’ presentation that will soon be available to our PSSap customers nationally. We will be covering matters relevant to women and their super, and exploring ways to get your savings on track. Keep an eye on our webinars and seminars page, or follow us on Facebook, to be kept in the loop as we roll out this program. You can also pre-register your interest in the presentation by emailing atworkformembers@csc.gov.au

Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (CSC) ABN: 48 882 817 243 AFSL: 238069 RSEL: L0001397
Trustee of Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme (CSS) ABN: 19 415 776 361 RSE: R1004649
Military Superannuation and Benefits Scheme (MilitarySuper) ABN: 50 925 523 120 RSE: R1000306
Public Sector Superannuation Scheme (PSS) ABN: 74 172 177 893 RSE: R1004595
Public Sector Superannuation Accumulation Plan (PSSap) ABN: 65 127 917 725 RSE: R1004601
Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefits Scheme (DFRDB Scheme) ABN 39 798 362 763
ADF Super ABN: 90 302 247 344 RSE: R1077063

*Our authorised financial planners are authorised to provide advice by Guideway Financial Services (ABN 46 156 498 538, AFSL 420367). Guideway is a licensed financial services business providing CSC financial planners with support to provide members with specialist advice, education and strategies.

Share this article

Next, I'd like to know more about...

What's your super future?

We’re sharing information to help our customers feel in control of their future and confident in their financial literacy.

We’re prepared for the unexpected

If you’re unable to work for any reason, there are many ways that CSC can help you and your family.

Learn more

Take the first step

At CSC, we’re committed to your future wealth. We’re here to guide you on your Superannuation journey, but ultimately you’re in control of your super. There are things that only you can do to make sure you’re getting the most out of your savings.

Find out more