Commonwealth Super Defined Benefit Advice

This is one of the most important decisions you'll make and it isn't always obvious. A pension can give you indexed income for life, which is valuable. A lump sum gives you flexibility, the ability to invest, and an asset that can pass to your family. The right balance depends on your other super, your tax position, your spouse's situation, and your view on longevity. Worth getting properly modelled before you commit.

Redundancies interact with defined benefit schemes in specific ways, and the right move depends on your scheme, your age, your length of service, and the size of the payout. For CSS members, redundancy can trigger different calculation methods. For PSS members, the impact is different again. There are also tax implications on the redundancy payment itself. Get advice before you sign anything.

This is a common issue for high earners in the public service. The question you face is: do you continue making member contributions and pay the tax, stop them altogether, or see if there’s a solution where you can have your cake and eat it too? That’s where we step in. For some people, we’ve found a solution. Advice is critical to getting it right, and we can help explain if the solution can work for you too.

There are different types of accounts that fall within the superannuation system. These terms can impact all of the accounts, including defined benefits. They describe the overall value of your super interests, consider how much additional money you can add into the super environment, and provide a limit on how much can move into an income‑drawing account, known as a pension. It’s important to understand that these can be different for everyone, so knowing the limits that apply to you personally is highly important.

Yes, you can certainly reach out to the amazing CSC team, and they are knowledgeable experts in the CSC product suite. We see our job as not only being experts in the CSC landscape, but also to create holistic financial advice, considering all options inside and outside of CSC. Our job is to talk about more than the numbers; it’s everything beyond.

The years between 45 and 50 are where the biggest decisions for PSS members get made. Your contribution rate, how higher duties affects your final salary, whether to adjust your working hours, and the strategy for the lead-up to retirement. Many PSS members leave significant value on the table simply because nobody explained the levers in time.

This is one of the most common situations we see, and the strategy needs to look at both schemes together. Contribution strategies, retirement timing, drawdown order, and the tax position of each spouse all interact. We work across both partners' situations to find the structure that works best for the household.

Each fund has its own rules for what happens on death, both before and after retirement. Generally, eligible spouses receive a reversionary pension, but the rate and the rules vary by scheme. There are also implications for the lump sum versus pension decision. If you have a blended family or specific wishes around how the benefit is treated, this is a conversation worth having well before it's needed.

For CSS and PSS members it works differently than for accumulation funds. There are specific rules around member contributions and how they interact with the benefit calculation. For PSSap, ADF Super and MSBS, the rules are closer to standard super. The right strategy depends on your scheme, your contribution history, and your tax bracket.

If you've left the public service but kept your benefit in the scheme, you're a preserved member. The benefit grows differently to a contributing member's, and the decisions you face are around when and how to claim it. Many preserved members are unaware that timing the claim incorrectly can cost them significantly.

Two-thirds of our Canberra clients hold a Commonwealth super scheme, and we've been advising on PSS, CSS, DFRDB and MSBS for years. Canberra is our home ground and these schemes are what we work on every day.

Fees depend on complexity. A simple piece of advice on a single decision, like a redundancy or a 54/11 question, is usually a fixed fee. Comprehensive advice covering your scheme plus the wider plan is more involved. We give you a clear quote before any work starts.

54/11 refers to resigning from the Commonwealth Public Service before turning 55, so your CSS benefit is preserved under the more generous formula that applies to preserved members. The pension you eventually receive can be significantly higher than if you simply retired at age 55. It's only available to CSS members and the timing has to be exact. Whether it suits you depends on your circumstances, your other assets, and what you plan to do next.