In general, and unless you have self-managed super, for you to be able to use your superannuation to buy a house, you must meet a full 'condition of release'. The usual condition is that you have reached age 65, or your retirement or preservation age (age 58 if born after 6/1962, and 59 if born after 6/1963).
You may only use the money to purchase a residential property to make your home (including vacant land to build on) and may not use it to purchase an investment property.
What is it? 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.
You can buy an investment property through your SMSF, but you can't use your super balance to buy a home you're going to live in. This is because superannuation is designed to fund your retirement, not to help you fund the essential purchases you make throughout your life.
You can apply to have up to $15,000 of voluntary super contributions released from any one financial year to buy your first home. The scheme is capped at $30,000 across all years.
Yes, you are allowed to use your superannuation to buy an investment property using the First Home Super Saver scheme as this is currently the only scheme purposely designed so you can use your super to buy a house.
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.
Can I use super to buy property? Yes, you can use super to buy a property. But you cannot use a regulated superannuation fund to do so, like an industry super fund or retail super fund. To buy a property using your super, you'll need to set up a Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF).
Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF) are allowed to borrow to invest in direct property, managed funds or shares as long as a Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangement is used for the transaction.
This is the money you've been saving for your entire working life, so once you hit 65 (or 60 if you're retired), yes, you can use your super to pay off your mortgage.
If you withdraw super due to severe financial hardship it is taxed as a super lump sum. The minimum amount that can be withdrawn is $1,000 and the maximum amount is $10,000. If your super balance is less than $1,000 you can withdraw up to your remaining balance after tax.
The FHSS scheme can be a good way to help save a deposit to buy your first home. Using your super fund, you can contribute up to $15,000 each financial year, with the total you can withdraw across all years from 1 July 2017 capped at $30,000.
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.
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).
The short answer is yes, since it is your money. While there are no restrictions against using the funds in your account for anything you want, withdrawing funds from a 401(k) before the age of 59 1/2 will incur a 10% early withdrawal penalty, as well as taxes.
Typically, there is no limit to how much you can withdraw from an account-based pension. So, in addition to receiving periodic payments, you can choose to withdraw some or all of your money as a lump sum.
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.
WILL ACCESSING MY SUPER AFFECT MY CENTRELINK PAYMENT? If you withdraw money from your super fund, you must tell Centrelink within 14 days. Money withdrawn from super is not treated as income for a person receiving a social security payment.
Tax impacts
It's a double-whammy - it reduces your taxable income and your money is taxed at 15% going into super (as long as you're within your contribution cap). When you pay your mortgage, you're doing that with after-tax money, taxed at your marginal rate which is most likely higher than 15%.
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.
You can access your super, without restrictions, even if you're still working. Rules for accessing your super: You can access your super as long as you've permanently retired. If you end an employment arrangement on or after age 60, you can also access the super you've earned up until then.
If you want to borrow against your super, it means that you want to use your super as security for a loan. You are effectively saying to a bank or lender that they can have your super if you are unable to repay your loan. You might be familiar with borrowing against other investments.