The opportunity to influence your retirement benefits occur in one of three ways:-

• You can stay in the current super fund
• You can nominate a new superfund, or
• You can choose your employers default superfund.

What ever option you choose it is important to consider the differences available that may be apparent in the short term, but more importantly in the long term.

Some funds have extremely flexible investment options, which can be useful if you are able (generally with some assistance) to nominate sectors that have higher earning rates. It may also mean that you are able to nominate sectors that have less volatility and therefore do not suffer a loss in the short term, because you are very close to retirement.

Insurance is not always required and at some levels it may be considered expensive – e.g. young males have a higher premium than thirty year old males, but often do not have any debt and therefore life insurance may not have much real benefit.

Some funds calculate fees on a percentage basis, others have a flat scale.

We would encourage you to consider the net earning result, because a fund with high fees might also have a greater range of investments and a higher gross earning rate. It is quite normal for an international equities fund manager to charge significantly higher fees than a local manager of a cash management trust fund manager – quite possible also that the net earning rate may be three times higher and certainly in the 2005 year, the net earning rate of Australian Equities has probably been six times the net earning rate of a cash management pool e.g. 20% plus, compared to 3%.

If your decision is driven by a search for the lowest fees, you could invest in a no fee product, which is quite likely to earn less than cash management trust rates. But, is a 3.5% return acceptable? Who is better off – The person taking the lower fees or the person making the more informed and wiser path?