Super so far

Nearly 2 years ago, I setup my Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF), so today I thought I'd take some time to reflect on whether or not that was a good decision.  For US readers, I believe that Super(annuation) is similar in concept to your 401k, and the "Self Managed" part means that you manage it yourself, as the Trustee of the Fund.

When it comes to Super, people generally fall into one of two categories - those that give a shit, and those that don't.   Everyone starts off in the "those that don't" camp, until one of a number of things happen:

• You become self employed, at which time you (as a Company) start paying yourself (as an Employee) and must make the mandatory Super contributions (to yourself).
• You realise that you have a significant amount of money in your Super Fund.

At which point, you start to wonder why you're letting someone else manage your money, and you start to analyse your fund managers' [sic plural] performance, and their fees, and decide that you could do better yourself - even if you didn't do anything.

Welcome to stage II in life: Giving a shit about your Super.