TPD Insurance Wiki: Benefits Of Buying Cover Through A Super Fund

Copyright (c) 2014 Kerrie Peacock

There are several reasons why majority of Australians buy TPD insurance through their super fund (in 2008, 67% of Australians possessed TPD insurance in super, based on data from Industry Funds Forum (IFF) and the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST)). Some of the benefits include:

I Group Discounts

Since super funds generally have large numbers of members, they can negotiate favorable discounts on insurance premiums. Therefore super fund members would incur fewer costs when buying TPD insurance wiki. Various super funds also focus on particular industries in order to provide the most suitable cover options for their members. For example:

(i) LUCRF Super is open to people from all industries. It has 182,000 members and more than 15,000 participating employers, with assets worth $3.6 billion.

(ii) Cbus is an industry Super Fund serving the building, construction and allied industries. It has at least 689,000 members, with 80,000 participating employers and assets worth $22.8 billion.

wiki,wikipedia,wikiler,wikimedia (iii) AustralianSuper is open to all Australians. It is among the major industry super funds and has over 2 million members with assets worth $65 billion.

(iv) Legalsuper is an industry super fund for the legal community in Australia. The fund has over 39,000 members with assets worth $1.9 billion.

(v) Hostplus serves professionals within the tourism, recreation, hospitality, and sport industries. Its membership constitutes more than 1 million people working in these industries, with an asset base worth $12.7 billion.

(vi) Hesta has more than 760,000 Australians involved in health or community services. This industry super fund has assets worth $24 billion.

(vii) MTAA Super has more than 273,000 motor trade workers with assets worth $6.6 billion.

(viii) CareSuper has more than 64,000 participating employers and more than 264,000 people engaged wiki,wikipedia,wikiler,wikimedia in administrative, managerial and service occupations. CareSuper has an asset base worth $7.7 billion.

(ix) Media Super serves people working in media, entertainment, print and art industries. It has 110,000 members with 13,000 participating employers and assets worth $3.4 billion.

(x) TWUSUPER has 127,000 members working in transport and logistics. This super fund has 14,000 participating employers and assets worth $3.3 billion.

II Concessional Tax Treatment

The cost of TPD cover in super is further reduced due to concessional tax treatment offered to super funds. According to the Australian Government Treasury, the employer and deductible employee contributions to superannuation are subject to a flat rate of 15% in tax, except for employees earning more than $300,000 per annum. This flat tax rate is generally better than tax rates applicable when super contributions are paid in form wiki,wikipedia,Wikiler,wikimedia of wages or salaries.

III Automatic Basic Cover

Super funds generally provide automatic basic life and disability cover. According to AustralianSuper (an industry super fund), when joining the fund, members may have an automatic provision of Death and TPD insurance wiki. However, this is not applicable for those who join while in self-employment. All members must first confirm whether they have this basic cover by reading the Product Disclosure Statement provided by the super fund.

An automatic life and TPD cover ensures that you get coverage at less costly premiums as compared to applying for cover outside superannuation.