Advice for your Rest account.

Rest Super and Rest Corporate charge $1.50 a week plus 0.10% pa of your balance on the deduction day, with that 0.10% component capped at $600 pa, plus an estimated 0.09% pa met from fund reserves rather than your account. Rest’s Growth example on $50,000 is 0.47% pa investment fees and costs and 0.09% pa transaction costs, for a published total of $453 pa (buy-sell spread extra); indexed options have lower investment costs than Growth. Rest Pension uses the same admin formula — Rest’s Retirement example is $443 pa on $50,000 Growth, and the TTR example is $453 pa — the exit fee is nil, and insurance premiums are extra if you hold cover.

Rest is a public-offer industry fund, established in 1988 as the Retail Employees Superannuation Trust; you don’t need a retail job to join or stay, and Rest says eligible Australians can join. As at 30 June 2026 Rest reports about 2 million members and around $112 billion under management, and Rest says its Growth option has returned 8.37% pa (compound average effective rate of net earnings) from inception to that date — past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. Whether it stacks up for you depends on which product you hold, which investment option, the fees on that option, and whether default insurance still fits.

Rest, AustralianSuper and Hostplus are all large industry funds, so the comparison worth making is MySuper or default-option fees, net returns and insurance — not the brand.

Rest’s default option is Growth, with a published example of $453 a year on a $50,000 balance. Rest Default cover includes Income Protection as well as Death and TPD, and it is available regardless of your occupation. Be careful here: switching funds or combining accounts can cancel that cover and change your investment settings.

If you’re happy with Rest, there’s often no reason to move — and we’ll say so. If you’re not sure it still stacks up, we specialise in industry, government and corporate super funds and can benchmark yours against five leading comparable funds so you know exactly where it stands. If it holds up, you’ll know you’re fine. If it doesn’t, we can help you weigh a move and handle it properly — insurance, timing and tax included.

Preserved super in Rest can be withdrawn once you meet a condition of release; rollovers to another fund and unrestricted non-preserved amounts don't need one. Rest’s online form covers most of the ordinary routes: a rollover to another fund, leaving an employer or retiring since turning 60, being 65 or over, unrestricted non-preserved amounts, a balance under $200 after leaving an employer, or ATO-approved compassionate grounds. Earlier access otherwise means severe financial hardship, permanent incapacity or terminal illness, temporary incapacity, the First Home Super Saver scheme, or a departing-Australia payment for eligible former temporary residents.

On timing, Rest says it will request extra information within 5 business days if it needs to, and approved payments can take up to 3 business days to reach your bank. Rest Pension Retirement members can take a lump sum. TTR payments are capped at 10% a year, and lump sums are generally unavailable until another condition of release is met.

Rest Super Default cover is a package of Income Protection, TPD and Death (Death can pay early on terminal illness), and Rest says it’s available to eligible members regardless of occupation, including casuals and people working few hours. People under 25 or with a balance under $6,000 generally don’t get default cover unless they opt in; cover is paid from the super balance, and you can increase, reduce, opt out or cancel it in MemberAccess. Default IP is designed around typical retail salaries, so if you earn more than that you can apply to increase it — up to 77% of pre-disability income, plus 12% of the monthly benefit for super. Rest Super and Rest Corporate have separate insurance guides, and Corporate default cover is often salary-based and set by the employer plan. One thing that catches people out: a TPD payout reduces Death cover by the same amount.

Rest Pension covers a Retirement account and a Transition to Retirement account under the Pension PDS; Rest’s Term Allocated Pension is closed to new members, and the default investment option for Rest Pension is Balanced, not Growth. A new TTR account is for ages 60 to 64, and you can be working any hours. Rest’s example of the government minimum is 4% at ages 60–64, and TTR has a 10% annual maximum. Rest’s guidance is to keep at least $6,000 in the super account so employer SG can continue. At 65, a TTR account converts automatically to a Rest Pension Retirement account. Transferring from Rest Super, Rest Corporate or TTR into a Rest Pension Retirement account may qualify for Rest’s Retirement Bonus — the amount varies, and Rest can reduce or not pay it.

Rest publishes ABN 62 653 671 394 for the Retail Employees Superannuation Trust, USI/SPIN RES0103AU for Rest Super or Rest Corporate, and MySuper unique product identifier 62 653 671 394 831. Other Rest products have different USIs: Super Fund Lookup lists RES0102AU for Rest Pension and RES0101AU for Rest Corporate Retained (plus RES0104AU for Acumen). Always use the USI that matches the product on your statement — incorrect details can delay a contribution or rollover, or cause it to be rejected.

The government’s First Home Super Saver scheme lets eligible first-home buyers release voluntary concessional (salary sacrifice or personal deductible) and non-concessional contributions made after 1 July 2017, plus associated earnings. Rest states the caps as up to $15,000 per financial year and $50,000 of eligible contributions in total; Super Guarantee, spouse contributions, contribution-splitting amounts, government co-contributions and amounts over the contribution caps aren’t eligible. Two eligible buyers can each use their own cap (up to $100,000 of contributions between them); you apply for release through the ATO, then Rest pays it — this isn’t a general rule that lets you withdraw Rest Super to buy a house.

A Rest death benefit is the account balance plus any insurance, minus fees and tax, and eligible nominees are generally a spouse (including de facto), children of any age, a financial dependant, an interdependent, or the legal personal representative. Rest Super and Rest Corporate binding nominations expire after three years and then become non-binding unless you renew them; Rest Pension binding nominations don’t expire (still update if circumstances change), non-binding nominations are a guide only, and reversionary nominations exist on Rest Pension only. Closing or fully transferring an account cancels the nomination, including a move from one Rest product to another, and adult children are usually not tax-dependants so tax on a lump sum can apply.

You don’t have to leave Rest because you left retail: Rest is public offer and open to eligible Australians. Leaving can stop insurance (Default Death, TPD and IP, or Corporate salary-based cover), cancel a binding nomination, and forgo Rest-only features such as the Retirement Bonus path from Super, Corporate or TTR into Rest Pension. Rest Super, Rest Corporate and Rest Pension have different documents, so compare this option’s fees, this cover and this nomination with the alternative.