No, you can't withdraw your existing balance, just the extra contributions you make under the scheme plus any interest accrued on those contributions (minus tax). Check out our dedicated article on the FHSSS, which also includes information on why you can't withdraw all the money in your super to buy a house.
The First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSS scheme) allows you to make voluntary super contributions of up to $15,000 each financial year. If eligible, a maximum of $30,000 can be released from your super to use as a deposit for your first home.
So, generally, no, you cannot use your super to buy your first home. However, the FHSS scheme can help you save a deposit for your first home.
When buying a house you typically need at least 5% of the property's value as a cash deposit. This means that it's not possible to buy a house without a cash deposit, as mortgages for 100% of the property value do not exist (with the exception of some shared ownership schemes).
If you plan on using your superannuation to purchase a house to live in, you must first withdraw however much you need from your super account into your personal bank account and then use that money to buy a house.
“Mr Taxman” Adrian Raftery says you can use your early release super to put towards a house. “You can do just about anything with it, except putting it straight back into your super and getting a tax deduction for it.” Raftery says couples could withdraw as much as $40,000 from their super to put towards a house.
When you're ready to purchase your first home, you apply to the ATO to request the release of your FHSS savings, (your contributions and associated earnings) from your super account so it's ready to go. A good rule of thumb is to do this when you apply for your mortgage loan.
Once you're in a position to buy your first home, you simply apply to the ATO for a FHSS determination. The determination will let you know how much you are eligible to receive from your super account – up to a maximum amount of $50,000 of the voluntary contributions you have made plus any earnings on that amount.
How much can I withdraw and when? You can apply to have a maximum of $15,000 of your additional contributions from any one financial year included in your eligible contributions to be released under the First Home Super Saver scheme.
The super can be used to make payments to your home loan or to pay council rate arrears. Any super you withdraw for this purpose will be taxed and the tax amount will be deducted from the lump sum.
Because of Australian superannuation fund rules, savings from an Australian complying superannuation fund aren't available for a KiwiSaver first home withdrawal or the home deposit subsidy. However, any earnings on the transferred amount can be withdrawn once you're eligible to make a KiwiSaver first home withdrawal.
There's no legal minimum SMSF balance required to buy an investment property, but best practices recommend around $200,000.
If you're going to use your super to buy a car, you need to have met one of the following conditions: You must be 65 years of age. Or, you must meet the definition of retirement. Or, you must start a transition to retirement income stream, allowing you to withdraw between 4-10% of this balance each year.
Key points. Keeping money in a high-growth super fund would have offered a better return than investing in property over the past 10 years. Property returns were more likely to be competitive with super in expensive neighbourhoods. Choosing property has intangible benefits, too, such as the security of home ownership.
A: Investing your super in property investment allows you to use gearing/debt to invest in an investment that you would otherwise not be able to invest in. Gearing provides the potential to accelerate your wealth creation in the long term.
In 2019–20, average household real net wealth was $1.04 million.
ASFA estimates that the lump sum needed at retirement to support a comfortable lifestyle is $640,000 for a couple and $545,000 for a single person. This assumes a partial Age Pension.
You may be able to access your super if you are temporarily unable to work, or need to work less hours, because of a physical or mental medical condition. This condition of release is generally used to access insurance benefits linked to your super account.
Normally, you can't withdraw your voluntary contributions – or any of your super – until you turn 65 or once you have reached your access age and retire. At that point, we have some great retirement product options to help you make the most of your super.
Can I use my super to pay off debt? In general, you can at times access your super if you are considered to be in hardship and struggle to pay essential costs or due to medical reasons.
You can choose to do your home renovation work within the super fund alone or you can make use of other schemes and loans to even build your new home.
If you need to apply because of financial hardship
You can apply for early access to your super because of severe financial hardship through your super fund. They may want evidence from us to confirm if you meet the income support requirements for financial hardship. We can give you a letter to give to your fund.