How to choose a super fund

Service and support

Managing super, finances and insurance can be tricky. When you need help or have a question, you want to know there’s a friendly, reliable and capable team of people you can contact or drop in and see for a chat.

If you need help with something Contact us

One of the key things we pride ourselves on at BUSSQ is providing our members with the best customer service possible. To see our commitment to deliver you the best service possible, check out our Member Service Promise.

Education and advice

It’s important to get your head around super while you’re still working and know you can get support when it’s time to start planning for retirement, and into retirement. You want to be with a fund that can help you when you need, in the way that’s best for you.   

To learn more about your options contact us or check out our seminar and advice options.

BUSSQ offers online education options, in person seminars hosted by our team of friendly experts, and personal financial advice that’s often at no extra cost.^▷

Insurance

Default (automatic) insurance that meets your needs can be vitally important if you get sick or injured and can’t work for a while – or to support your family if you pass away. Many super funds give you a base level of default cover automatically and you can then apply to change your insurance. The option to personalise your insurance means you can apply for the level of cover that’s right for you and your family.* 

Types of insurance in super 

There are three main types of insurance in super – Death cover, Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD) cover and Income Protection cover.  

If you need some help understanding insurance or how much cover you might need: Call us or Try our Insurance needs calculator

Dangerous occupation exception  

Default cover can be even more important for people who have dangerous jobs (e.g. building, construction and civil). Because of this, there’s legislation that super funds can choose to apply that protects people with dangerous jobs by starting their default insurance sooner than normal. Many super funds don’t apply this exception, which means their members won’t get default insurance cover until they’re age 25+ and have a super balance of $6k+. 

Depending on your job, this can be one of the benefits of default insurance with industry super funds, like BUSSQ. To protect our members who work in the construction, civil and building industries, we chose to apply this exception.

Fees and costs  

All super funds charge fees and costs to look after your super administration and manage investments. Some funds charge a fee that’s based on a percentage of your balance, others have set fees, and some charge a combination of both. Finding a fund that charges competitive fees can be important – as less paid in fees can mean more money saved for your retirement.

BUSSQ focuses on keeping fees and costs as competitive as we can. 

Learn more about our fees and costs

Long term investment performance^{^}  

Super is a long term investment. Because of this, when comparing super funds it can be good to look for funds that have a history of strong, long term investment returns. It can be hard to remember that this money is for your retirement and may be invested in your super for 50+ years. It's also good to get your head around the investment basics and understand how the market goes up and down over time.

Learn more by using our BUSSQ performance tool

Investment options 

All your money in super is invested and the returns on these investments help your retirement savings grow over time.^{^} If you want to be hands on, most funds have investment options you can choose from, and if you’d prefer to let your fund look after it for you they’ll have default (automatic) investment option/s. 

How much control you want to have over your investments and the level of investment risk / return you’re comfortable with may change over time. So, picking a fund with options you’re happy with can be a consideration. 

Learn more about BUSSQ investment options or try our Investment risk calculator