Superannuation

onemargie

Be careful as I don't  believe you can claim on your super even after that time. I've had a friend on Newstart for nearly two years and she can't claim any of hers either. Margie 

ShazS

Hello All, How are you all going? Surgery over gee that was an experience they got the cancer and took three lymph nodes . Got so sick after surgery and again this morning just coming good. My heart goes out to of whom have or are going through this journey. Anyway my super told me no I don't have income protection, come Monday I will call HR. Good luck to all and best wishes Shazx

onemargie

I hope you can claim if so let us all know how you did it as none of us have had any luck. Glad you're on the mend from your surgery. Take care of yourself rest up and keep us posted. Margie ❤️

ShazS

Hi Margie, thanks and for sure you all will be the first to know have been reading other posts and seriously this needs to change and have funding readily available and stop with all the confusing red tape and different binding this and that ect . Shazx

ShazS

You have my backing Ladies. Shaz x

Hankster

I have been very lucky my HR department helped me get a medical assessment with my super fund .  I was deemed unable to do my job had have been deemed "disabled". This means I have been able to access the insurance component of my super until I reach my preservation age.  So sorry to hear others have not had the same experience.  It was a traumatic exercise with reports being required from my gp , oncologist and psychologist. I consider myself very lucky 

primek

My super is a government one and it doesn't have built in income protection. I'm  going to look into trying to get it added just in case I need it again in tbe future.

melclarity

You can add it or you can take it out independently but like all insurances it costs. 

Barney74

Hi ive just been accepted for my income protection thank god .we are only on 1 wage to  but it does take 60days to find out which is ridiculous as BC is a legit or any othet form of cancer or illness it suxs. 
I hope you get an answer soon but be warned it does take a while and so much paperwork to do .i suggest if your applying for income protection maybe start appilcation asap but your super could be different to mine.

ShazS

You have my backing Ladies. Shaz x

ShazS

Hi Barney , Which super are you with ? Shazx

ShazS

Can't sleep think the aftermath of surgery ect just catching up on me. The stress levels are way up hubby goes back to work Tuesday, had to borrow more money to pay for radiotherapy ect unreal . We really all don't need this extra stress how can we try stay positive and get better when our poor partners are working helping with everything else plus the worry of the mortgage , bills, ect. I feel so helpless now I can't work and can't contribute to helping out. Gee I feel for you all out who have travel expenses , on your own ect. Shazx

melclarity

@ShazS it is tough, I was on my own  with 2 kidd through 2 diagnosis and my last one was very difficult. Most supers dont have income protection built in. Vic super does which is an Education Fund. I had a 90 day waiting period but it didn't matter as i was a few months post treatment when i found it. It was an enormous amount of paperwork but they back paid me as they take it from cessation of work and income. I lived off savings til then. Its only 65% of your full time wage so its helped. Its for 2 years and mine ceases in January. I have no more assistance and have to return to work full time whether i am able or not ive been working 3 days. Financially its killed me and now have to move as i cant afford to live alone anymore. Its eaten into my settlement money and cannot purchase another home and due now to lack of income. It is a burden we dont need and it has to change. X 

nonkyboy

Hi @ShazS, you need to go through the public system and then you won't need to pay for radiation. You receive the same care according to so many posts on here. Perhaps speak to your treating Drs and request to be referred to save you some of the financial headache xx Lesley

Harlee

I had Trauma/Critical Illness insurance as part of my Life insurance linked to my superannuation. I had forgotten all about it and it was only when I called to cancel an appointment with my financial adviser because I was too busy having surgery that he asked if I had claimed? His office actually did all the work - I just had to sign the documents - and a few weeks later I got my lump sum payment which meant I could afford to pay someone else to do my job for several months (we are self employed), get a cleaner to do my house, pay all my medical bills and even pay out our mortgage. 

We have our own business so our insurance and superannuation has always been organised by our financial adviser. I never paid much attention to it all and just followed his advice. Incredibly I had questioned the need for Trauma/Critical illness insurance as I said that we had private health insurance (haha I had no idea how big the gap payments were going to be!) and income protection (forgot about the waiting period) so I didn't know what we would need the money for! I really can't believe how innocent I was. He explained that we would need money to keep our business going if we ever became ill or incapacitated. That was the only reason we got it and even then I still thought he was only recommending it so he got a bigger commission! 

I know I am incredibly fortunate to have had this and I can't imagine how difficult it would be to have financial worries in addition to cancer treatment. Like me, most people have no idea how expensive getting cancer is. I know I could have used the public system, our family and friends would have helped clean the house, and our business probably would have survived but our savings would have been totally depleted and our loans would have grown bigger during the time of less income.

But most of all  - the extra stress would have been another burden to carry.
I think there needs to be a simple system to help financially while you are undergoing treatment. I think it could be set up like the student loans for university. You get an immediate payment to use for your mortgage, medical bills, etc and then when you are back on your feet again your tax rate increases by 1 or 2% to pay it back if necessary. Most (not all) of us only need assistance for a short time and then we return to working and paying taxes! I would be wonderful to know that everyone had the help they need during this time.