Super vs. Salary: How to Structure Your Package for Maximum Benefit

The decision between taking a higher salary or contributing more to super is one of the most impactful financial choices you can make. In this article, we model three scenarios: a 25-year-old starting out, a 40-year-old mid-career professional, and a 55-year-old planning for retirement.

For each scenario, we compare the after-tax benefit of salary sacrifice versus taking the cash. The results might surprise you — the compounding effect of even small additional super contributions can add hundreds of thousands to your retirement balance.

Key factors to consider include your marginal tax rate, the 15% super contributions tax, and the current $30,000 concessional contributions cap.