How to check your Virgin Super Annual Member Statement

If you have a Virgin Super account, you probably already know how important it is to save as much as possible before your golden years begin.

But as the years move forward, how do you keep track of your balance? How do you know your level of insurance cover? How do you review your investment strategy?

Enter your super Annual Member Statement

Though you can keep up-to-date on all things with your Super 24/7 by logging into the Virgin Super website, we will also supply you with a yearly Member Statement to help you review all the activity on your account in that financial year.

There is a lot of information contained in its pages, and you’ll need to make sure that certain details are up-to-date and correct.

So what should you be checking?

Your balance

This is an opportunity for you to see how your balance is tracking. It might seem like there are a lot of numbers on this page, but when you take the time to examine them all individually, you’ll see it’s actually not so complicated!

• How much cash is in your stash? At the top of the statement will be a simple little graph showing you in clear terms where your balance is compared to the previous financial year. This provides you with an easy visual way to review your balance growth for that year.
• The ins and outs: Next to this you’ll see everything that went into, and came out of, your Super balance. This includes your superannuation guarantee contributions (SGC), as well as any extra contributions such as from your personal pocket or your spouse’s. You’ll also be able to look at any fees and taxes you paid, which we’ll get to shortly. Finally, your closing balance is outlined below these figures, showing you precisely how much you will start the next financial year with.The following page will show you a more detailed breakdown of who contributed what during the year, including SGC and other contributions.

• Fees and taxes: It’s important to learn what each of the different fees and taxes mean on your Annual Member Statement. Here you will see the fees you paid to administer and invest your Super, any insurances premiums you paid in the year (if you have insurance on your account) and the contributions tax deducted from your account (this is paid to the Australian Tax Office). Pointer: At Virgin Super, we get a tax deduction for the fees incurred to manage your Super as well as the insurances premiums we pay on your behalf. We pass on this tax deduction to you as a tax rebate, and you will find details of the tax rebate you received in the ‘What went in’ section.

Your strategy

Virgin Super offers a number of different options to invest your super.

On the first page of your Annual Member Statement you can see some handy pie charts that show where you are investing money, and how much of your account is invested in that particular investment option.

On the fourth page you’ll also be able to see what switches in investment options you made during the financial year, and your account balance as of when these changes occurred.

With this information in hand, now is the perfect time to review whether or not your investment strategies are working, and if you should consider changing to something different to better suit the new year.

Insurance and beneficiaries

It’s important to keep both your Virgin Super Insurance and assigned beneficiaries up to date, as these could be important in the unlikely event that worst comes to worst.

For example, most Virgin Super customers are automatically signed up for death cover and total and permanent disability (TPD) cover when they join us. However, you may also want to change the level of cover you receive, or add income protection (IP) cover. You’ll be able to see what you already have from this statement, as well as how much of your final balance is covered, in order to decide if you require more or less cover.

Note that Virgin Money also offers Income Protection Insurance as a standalone product, outside of your superannuation account. Speak to your financial planner if you are considering your income protection options.

Your beneficiaries are also listed here, as well as which percentage of your balance they would receive should it be required. Are these details correct? Is everyone assigned the percentage that you desire? It’s time to check, ensure accuracy, and log on to your membership account to update if necessary.

How carefully do you check your Annual Member Statement?