Common super terminology¶

Superannuation comes with a handful of everyday words that can feel like a foreign language at first. Once you know them, the rest of the course reads easily.

This lesson is a friendly primer. It gives a short, plain-English meaning for each of the common terms you will meet — not the full A to Z, which lives in the separate reference library.

In one line

A few plain-English meanings for the super words you meet most — so the rest of the course makes sense.

Why this matters¶

Super is money set aside for your retirement, and it belongs to you. Knowing the basic words means you can read a super statement, talk to your employer or fund, and make good choices without feeling lost.

What you will learn¶

The common super words a beginner meets
A short, plain-English meaning for each
Enough to follow the rest of the course with confidence

Understanding the concept¶

Here are the everyday terms, each with a short meaning.

Superannuation (super) — money set aside during your working life to support you in retirement. The ATO describes super as money saved now so you have an income later, when you stop working.
Contribution — money paid into a super account. It can come from your employer, from you, or from the government.
Super Guarantee (SG) — the super your employer must pay for eligible workers, on top of your wages. The ATO states the Super Guarantee rate is 12% of your ordinary time earnings from 1 July 2025.
Super fund — the organisation that holds and invests your super for you until you can access it.
Member — you, when you have an account with a super fund. Your super account is a member account.
Balance — the total amount in your super account at a point in time.
Preservation age — the age at which you can start to access your super, as long as you also meet a condition of release. Moneysmart explains that your preservation age depends on when you were born.
Condition of release — an event that lets you take money out of super, such as retiring after reaching your preservation age, or turning 65.
Salary sacrifice — an arrangement where you ask your employer to pay some of your before-tax salary into your super instead of to you. The ATO explains this is an extra contribution on top of the Super Guarantee.
Consolidation — bringing several super accounts together into one. Moneysmart notes that one account can mean paying just one set of fees.

For accountants & bookkeepers

Employer Super Guarantee contributions and any salary-sacrifice amounts are both concessional (before-tax) contributions and count towards the member's concessional contributions cap for the year the fund receives them. Preservation rules and the conditions of release govern when preserved benefits can be paid. Attribute these facts to the ATO; do not quote indexed dollar caps in reader-facing text.

Example¶

Aisha starts her first job. Her employer pays the Super Guarantee into a super fund, which makes Aisha a member of that fund. Each contribution adds to her balance. Years later, Aisha decides to salary sacrifice a little extra from her before-tax pay. When she changes jobs and ends up with two accounts, she consolidates them into one to keep her fees and paperwork simple. Much later, once she reaches her preservation age and meets a condition of release, she can start to access her super.

Common mistakes¶

Mixing up the fund and the account — the fund is the organisation; your account is your member balance within it.
Thinking preservation age alone lets you access super — you also need to meet a condition of release.
Assuming salary sacrifice replaces the Super Guarantee — it is extra, on top.

How this works in myaccountant¶

In the app — myaccountant is not a super fund, so it does not hold your super. For employers, it stores each employee's super fund details, works out the super owed on a pay run, and pays it to the right fund. Employees can see their super details in the employee portal.

Key points¶

Super is money set aside now for your retirement.
A contribution is any money paid into super; the Super Guarantee is what your employer must pay.
Your fund holds your super; you are a member with a balance.
Preservation age plus a condition of release is what lets you access super.
Salary sacrifice is extra before-tax super; consolidation brings accounts together.

Learn next¶

General information only — not tax, super or financial advice.

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