The increased caps apply from July 1 this year and are part of sweeping changes to superannuation outlined by Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation Bill Shorten a month before May's Budget announcement.
The measure represents the first stage of a phased increase, with the government planning to extend the increased caps to everyone aged 50 and over from 1 July 2014, and to all Australians from 2018.
Mr Shorten estimated the increased caps would affect 171,000 people in 2013/2014, and around 363,000 people in 2014/2015 when eligibility is extended to individuals aged 50 and over.
Referring to the increasing caps as well as the planned increase in the superannuation guarantee (SG) from 9 per cent to 12 per cent, Mr Shorten said a person aged 30 today on average full-time earnings will retire with an extra $127,000 in superannuation savings.
Mr Shorten also announced updates to the government’s www.moresuper.gov.au website, outlining how the government’s planned changes to superannuation will affect the retirement savings of Australians.
A retirement calculator on the site was also updated to reflect the increasing caps and the first phased increase in the SG, to 9.25 per cent from 1 July this year.
