mbooth
Recycles dryer sheets
I live in Australia and our super annuation scheme doesn't allow for withdrawals until 60+ currently. This doesn't work so well for early retirement..........
Not quite! You can draw on superannuation assets from age 55, but will pay tax on it at your marginal rate. However, as a self-funded retiree you will get a 15% tax rebate, which reduces the tax liability considerably. In concert with the recently introduced tripling of the tax-free threshold to ~$AU18k, this means the tax 'hit' is actually quite reasonable. After age 60, superannuation income-streams are tax-free.
Yes, Oz is a higher taxing country, but then there are many social offsets, such as the medicare system, that 'account' for those taxes. Infrastructure costs are also far greater in OZ than, say, the US, because we have a country roughly the same size as continental US or China [or Canada], with a population of less than 25m, so paying for the highways/roads, electricity-grids and such is proportionally far greater for us because of the distances/area covered.
I think it'd be worth be seeing an aussie tax-specialist accountant to try and legally minimise obligations, but don't try chasing minimisation schemes as a goal in itself, it'll only end in tears
Cheers - Mick
[retired aged 56 on a superannuation drawdown + taxed military pension]