Hi everyone, my name is Brad Zaknich GESB, and I'd like to thank you very much
for logging onto today's recorded webinar, so it's not a live one today,
it's recorded and it's about investing in super 101. So we're gonna go through
the ideas of investing through superannuation compared to investing
in other formats. So, for those who haven't used webinars before, very simple
technology, sit back and relax. Some of the normal interactive opportunities we
have with webinars has been turned off for today's session, obviously things like
typing in questions and clicking send, you can't do that today because there's
no-one to reply to them. So what we'll do is get through some of the housekeeping.
What we're showing you here is what you already would have received, well, in fact
what you're going to be receiving, is a webinar survey follow-up email, we do
still love to get feedback, even with recorded webinars, so if you wouldn't mind
setting a few moments it takes to complete that, that'd be greatly appreciated.
The webinar, like I said, is being recorded, and you'll be able to sit back,
watch it at your own leisure. You can move forward, you can go back in the slides,
and you can watch it as many times as you like, and from my understanding, this
webinar will be staying live on the GESB website, so probably around the end of
the financial year, at which point we'll most likely get a new presentation up.
Now, I'd first love to show my respect and acknowledge the traditional custodians
of this land, of Elders past, present and emerging, on which this event takes place.
And then you've got the all-important disclaimer. When talking about
superannuation, investing, money, finance, it's important that you understand that
we're not giving you personalised financial advice today. My job today it to
provide you with information, explain things, explain how things work.
It's not to get you to make a decision based on what I'm saying. So if you do
need personalised financial advice, you'll need to go elsewhere to get that,
as GESB only provides you general advice. Now in today's session there is a lot to
get through, some of which might be concepts that you're familiar with,
and some maybe not. So in this session we're gonna talk about the basics of
investing, and we're gonna talk about things like income tax, and how that
impacts investing, budgeting, where to use your money, borrowing, and debt.
Also going to talk about with investment concepts, the idea of compounding
interest, the value of superannuation, understanding the different asset classes
that exist within super, and what investment options are available.
Now hopefully you all know who GESB is, I work for GESB, GESB is a state
government department, and it just stands for Government Employee Superannuation
Board. Now we've been around for over 85 years, we've grown over $42 billion
in funds under management as of 31st December 2024, and GESB, being a
government department, we're a not-for-profit organisation.
So the only fees we collect from you, through your super, through your ??
are to run the fund, we are not-for-profit. And our returns are
competitive and long-term.
In regards to GESB's product structure, people often get a little confused,
but it's quite simple. GESB at the top of the tree there stands for Government
Employee Superannuation Board. Below that are the different schemes that we
administer. Now we're got some old legacy schemes like the Pension scheme
and the Gold State Super scheme, we're not going to be talking about
those at all today, okay, they don't sit within the ??? of today's presentation.
We're predominantly going to be talking about superannuation, that are in the
accumulation phase, and are accumulation accounts, so West State Super, GESB Super,
and some of the other invest, general super funds that work in a similar fashion.
When we speak about stuff that is general, superannuation, I'll make that very
well-known. When we're talking about anything that might be GESB specific,
I'll also make that well-known. What we're not going to talk about in great detail
today, or if at all, are the allocated pensions. They are the retired products
that most people use to draw down their retirement savings.
Well let's quickly talk about West State and GESB Super because there are some
differences between the two of them, and you need to be aware. So, West State
Super was the default super fund for WA State Public Servants who commenced
working for the government prior to 15 April 2007. The reason that is
important is that after April 2007, new employees to the public sector might have
had a GESB Super account open, or perhaps some other super fund, Australian Super,
Hostplus, something like that. The reason it's important to know, is that most
Australian funds like GESB Super, and most other funds, are considered to be taxed
super scheme. Why is this important? The government allows super contributions
to be contributed at a lower rate of tax than your normal pay. We need to remember
that super comes under the tax regime, and GESB super,