Simple ways to grow your super

To help you have the retirement you want, here are some ways you might boost your super savings.  

You may be able to make voluntary, non-concessional (after-tax) contributions to your super on top of what your employer contributes (if you’re employed). Your employer may do this for you, or you can transfer the money yourself.

If you’re eligible, you may be able to claim the contribution as a tax deduction. This means it will count as a concessional (before-tax) contribution. Or, if you don’t claim the contribution as a tax deduction, it might be eligible for a government co-contribution.   

The government puts limits on how much can be contributed to your super account each financial year – these limits are called contribution caps.   

You can ask your employer to add extra money to super directly from your pre-tax salary each time you get paid. This payment is on top of the super guarantee (SG) payments your employer makes on your behalf. The extra payments you choose to make are referred to as concessional contributions. Just let them know how much extra you’d like to put in. Contribution caps apply. See the ATO website for more information.

Salary sacrifice contributions are generally taxed at 15% which is likely to be less than your normal or marginal income tax rate.*

If your total income is less than $64,293  for the 2026-27 financial year, and you make voluntary, non-concessional (after-tax) contributions to your super that you haven’t claimed a tax deduction on, you could receive up to $500 as a co-contribution from the government.* 

The amount of the co-contribution depends on your total income, your residency status, how much you contributed, your super balance, and your age. It’s determined by the ATO after you lodge your tax return. In most cases, the co-contribution is paid by the ATO directly to the super fund where you made the voluntary after-tax contribution.   

If your adjusted taxable income is $37,000 or less for the financial year, and your employer makes super contributions on your behalf, the government may refund the tax paid on those contributions (15% on contributions) back into your super account, up to a maximum of $500 per year.  

If you’re eligible for the low-income super tax offset, it’ll be automatically calculated by the ATO and deposited in your super account after you lodge your tax return - you don’t need to do anything.  

Did you know you may be able to grow your partner’s super and also get a tax rebate? It’s called a spouse contribution.

If your partner earns less than $40,000 a year and you make a non-concessional (after-tax) contribution into their super account, you may be eligible for a tax rebate of up to $540 per year on a $3,000 after-tax contribution. Even if you can’t get the rebate, you can still add to your spouse’s account and plan for your future together.*

If you sell the home that you have lived in for 10 or more years and you’re over 55, you can potentially top up your super with up to $300,000 from your home sale – regardless of your work status, super balance, or other superannuation contributions you make during the financial year.  

If you’re part of a couple, you could each add up to $300,000 to your individual super accounts. There are some advantages, downsides, rules and regulations about downsizer contributions.  

Once you turn 60, you can access your super while you’re still working by opening a Rest Pension account. You’ll receive tax-free pension payments from your Rest Pension while your employer is still making contributions to your super.

Because you’re not paying tax on your pension payments, you might be able to use salary sacrificing to contribute as much as you can to your super before you stop working so you can give your retirement savings a final boost. Or you can use this strategy to cut down on your working hours without earning less, because the pension payments can make up for the reduction in your take-home pay. 

There are limits to the amount you can contribute to your super each year. The limits are currently $32,500 for concessional (before-tax) contributions and $130,000  for non-concessional (after-tax) contributions. But it might be possible to combine the limits from several years to contribute more. There are two ways to do this.

The carry-forward rule involves combining your unused concessional contributions caps from up to five previous financial years. For example, let’s say you used $10,000 of your concessional contributions cap for the past two financial years (2025-26 and 2024-25). For both of those financial years the cap was $30,000, so you had $20,000 in unused caps each year. That means you could potentially contribute an extra $40,000 (2 x $20,000) this financial year on top of your current cap of $32,500, making it $72,500 in total. To use this rule, your super balance must have been under $500,000 on 30 June of the previous financial year.

The bring-forward rule lets you use up three years’ worth of non-concessional contributions caps (the current financial year and the next two) in a single financial year. That means you could potentially contribute up to $390,000 (3 x the $130,000 cap). To use this rule, you have to be under 75 and have less than $2.1 million in your super.   

Things change over time: your name, address, and job could be different and you might have lost track of some of your super because it’s spread across multiple accounts. This means you could be paying multiple fees and insurance premiums.

To make things easier, you might want to consider consolidating your super into one account. But make sure you consider the pros and cons of closing each account (such as losing insurance cover).

You might find that some of your super has been transferred to the ATO for safekeeping. This can happen if your super account is inactive and has a low balance.

No matter where your super is, we can help you track it down.

Is your investment working hard enough?

You can choose how your super is invested. Rest has nine investment options that invest in a different mix of assets. For example, the Growth option invests in Australian and overseas shares, property, infrastructure, cash and alternatives.

Some investment options focus mainly on growth assets, which aim to increase your super balance over time. Others are more focused on defensive assets, which aim to cushion your super from any market volatility. They each have different risk levels and are expected to perform differently over time. 

Consider how your super is currently invested to make sure your choice is appropriate for your age, retirement goals and the level of risk you’re comfortable with. You can make use of our Investment Choice tool^ to help you.