Last year’s stellar super fund returns near 15 per cent look unlikely to be repeated in 2020, but there’s still plenty that savers can do to polish their nest eggs.

As always, there are superannuation rule changes this year, and it pays to give yourself a few simple checks.

Australians hold around about $2 trillion in industry, retail and public sector super funds, plus $750 billion in self-managed super funds (SMSFs), and our total super assets are up almost $200 billion in a year.

SMSF Association CEO John Maroney said many super fund members had insurance cancelled in 2019 amid new laws for inactive accounts, so checking your insurance was a good idea.

“One important change in 2019 was that exit fees have been banned, so you can now switch your super fund without having to pay any exit fee,” Mr Maroney said.

He said people should also check if the Australian Taxation Office was holding any of their super. This can be done by phone or online using myGov.

“And check if you are on track to have enough super when you retire,” Mr Maroney said. The moneysmart.gov.au website has great calculators to help with this, and you may be able to make extra tax-deductible (concessional) or after-tax contributions.

“The maximum concessional contribution is now $25,000 each year but some employees can contribute more and still obtain a full tax deduction,” Mr Maroney said.

“You are able to carry-forward your unused concessional contributions allowance from 1 July 2018.”