Glossary

Prior to retirement my wife and I met with a VicSuper representative to discuss our options. Despite the fact that some of the concepts and strategies can appear complex at first, things were explained to us in a way that was really simple and easy to understand, which helped us feel comfortable with the decisions we made.

Ken and Linda
VicSuper members

P

» Participating employer
» Pay As You Go (PAYG) tax
» PAYG
» Pension payments
» Personal contributions
» Portfolio
» Preservation age
» Preserved benefits
» Private equity
» Property trust
» Public offer fund
» Public sector fund

Participating employer

An employer who has an agreement with VicSuper to make their compulsory superannuation guarantee (SG) contributions on behalf of their staff to VicSuper.

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Pay As You Go (PAYG) tax

Amount of tax withheld from gross payments (eg lump sums and pensions). These amounts are then remitted to the ATO.

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PAYG

See Pay As You Go tax.

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Pension Payments

Pension payments for VicSuper Pensions can be made annually, half-yearly, quarterly, monthly or twice monthly. You can choose to receive pension payments on either the 15th day and/or the last business day of each month. Minimum pension payments are described below.

Drawdown relief for pensions

The minimum annual payment limits for pensions and annuities (including VicSuper Pensions) were reduced by 25% for 2012/13. This continues drawdown relief that has been provided since 2008/09. 

 

The table below shows the minimum payment limits as follows:

Age at start and 1 July each year

2011/12 minimum (%)

2012/13 minimum (%)

Under 65

3

3

65-74

3.75

3.75

75-79

4.5

4.5

80-84

5.25

5.25

85-89

6.75

6.75

90-94

8.25

8.25

95+

10.5

10.5

 

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Personal contributions

These are after-tax superannuation contributions you can choose to make and are counted towards your non-concessional contributions limit. Personal contributions can be made through your employer or direct to your super fund.

You may also be able to make personal deductible contributions that you can claim a tax deduction for. These are counted towards the concessional contribution limits.

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Portfolio

A collection of investments.

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Preservation age

The age at which you can generally access your superannuation, provided you have permanently retired from the workforce. Your preservation age depends on your date of birth.

Date of birth

Preservation age

Before 1 July 1960

55

1 July 1960 to 30 June 1961

56

1 July 1961 to 30 June 1962

57

1 July 1962 to 30 June 1963

58

1 July 1963 to 30 June 1964

59

After 1 July 1964

60

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Preserved benefits

Benefits that must remain in a super fund until a condition of release has been met.

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Private equity

These are equities that are not listed on stock exchanges in Australia and around the world. Returns are made when a company lists on a stock exchange or sold to another company or through the distribution of dividends.

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Property trust

Property trusts are collective investment vehicles (unit trusts) that own portfolios of real estate. Investors in unit trusts are called 'unitholders'. Income from the investments of the trust (in the form of rental income) is mostly distributed to the unitholders. These are called distributions.

Returns on listed property trust investments are determined by changes in the market price of units, and distributions received.

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Public offer fund

These funds offer superannuation to individuals or employers on a not-for-profit or commercial basis.

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Public sector fund

These funds are only available to government employees.

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