Superannuation
For doctors and medical professionals, superannuation is more than just a retirement savings account, it’s one of the most tax-effective ways to build and protect wealth throughout your career.
At AMA Financial Planning, we understand the distinct financial challenges of the medical professionals. From your early career through to specialist consultancy and private practice, we tailor solutions that evolve with your needs.
Specialist Super Strategies for High-Income Earners
As a medical professional, your income often reaches the highest tax brackets. We design tailored strategies to minimise your tax liability and maximise your long-term retirement wealth. Our 2026 advisory services include:
- Maximising Contributions: Utilising the $30,000 concessional cap and the $120,000 non-concessional cap, including, where appropriate, the use of catch-up and bring forward contribution strategies for unused amounts from previous years.
- Division 293 Tax Management: Proactive planning to manage the additional 15 percent tax applied to individuals with combined income and contributions over $250,000.
- Division 296 Tax Planning: Advice for professionals with total super balances approaching or exceeding 3 million dollars to manage the anticipated on high-balance earnings.
- Spouse and Re-contribution Strategies: Optimising family wealth by evening out super balances and reducing future tax for beneficiaries.
- Specialised Exemptions: Navigating Small Business CGT exemptions for practice owners and Downsizer contributions for those over 55.
Superannuation Advice for Doctors
For doctors and medical professionals, superannuation is more than just a retirement savings account, it’s one of the most tax-effective ways to build and protect wealth throughout your career.
At AMA Financial Planning, we understand the distinct financial challenges of the medical professionals. From your early career through to specialist consultancy and private practice, we tailor solutions that evolve with your needs.
Do not let complex tax laws or default superannuation settings erode your wealth. Choose advisors who work and understand Western Australia medical professions and are committed to helping you achieve financial freedom.
Navigating GESB: West State and Gold State Specialists
f you work in the WA public health system, your superannuation is likely managed by GESB. Older GESB products, such as West State Super and Gold State Super, offer unique benefits but can be complex due to their untaxed or defined benefit structures. Understanding these products often requires specialist expertise to maximise your retirement savings.
Common GESB strategies we work with you to consider:
- The Untaxed Plan Cap: Learning how to utilise the 1.865 million dollar lifetime untaxed plan cap to salary sacrifice far more than the standard annual limits.
- Excessive Tax on Rollovers: Managing the deferred payable on rolling out of West State or Gold State.
- Contribution Cap Breaches: Ensuring that contributions to multiple funds (for example, a private fund and GESB) do not lead to accidental tax consequences.
- Insurance Shortfalls: Upgrading default GESB insurance that often provides insufficient cover for medical specialists.
Advice for Every Career Stage
Your super strategy should evolve alongside your professional achievements. Our team provides the clarity you need to move forward with confidence:
- Early and Mid-Career Professionals: Building a foundation, selecting the most appropriate fund, making the right investment selection for you, and utilising the First Home Super Saver (FHSS) scheme to save for a home deposit tax-effectively.
- Specialists and Senior Consultants: Aggressive wealth accumulation and Division 293 considerations as your income peaks.
- Private Practice Owners: Navigate employer obligations, including the 2026 Payday Super rules, and consider the benefits of holding business real estate within super through self-managed superannuation (SMSFs).
- Transition to Retirement: Comparing GESB with SMSFs or Retail funds to identify the most flexible and tax-efficient income stream for your desired lifestyle.
Frequently Asked Questions
We assist clients in addressing their need for life, disability, critical illness and income protection insurance. After determining how much cover you require that is appropriate to your current position and future needs, we can help design and structure a tailored insurance program.
Income Protection is critical, particularly given the significant earnings potential of medical professionals. Income protection cover is designed to replace a portion of your income if you are unable to work due to illness or injury. It helps cover living expenses, manage debts, and maintain the standard of living, providing peace of mind and safeguarding your future earnings and your family’s financial security.
The cost of income protection insurance can very significantly and is based on a range of factors, some of which include:
- Your age
- Your gender
- The level of cover in place
- The age of the policy, it’s terms and the insurer
- Whether your policy has any premium loadings
- The structure of the premium itself
To ensure you are paying an income protection that is competitive, for a policy that is well structured and appropriate to your unique needs and preferences as a medical professional, please get in touch with the team at AMA Financial Planning.
Income protection provides regular payments in the event you are unable to work as a result of an accident or illness – even for a short, temporary period. In contrast, Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) cover provides a single lump sum benefit in the event you are permanently unable to work.
The appropriateness of policy terms will depend on your current circumstances, insurance needs and preferences. A waiting period would generally be based on your ability to maintain your current standard of living while you are unable to work, until income protection cover becomes payable. The benefit period may depend on how long you will continue to work, and generate an income for. Common waiting periods are 30,60 and 90 days and benefit periods range from 2 years, 5 years and until age 65 (retiremnet age).
Types of insurance cover, particularly disability and income protection cover, have terms that can differ dramatically, i.e cover may or may not be specific to your ability to work in your own, current role or alternatively, any occupation you are reasonably suited to. It is critical to consider these factors, as well as the underlying definitions of any specific policy, with a qualified adviser.
As a subsidiary of the AMA (WA) Inc, the team at AMA Financial Planning have significant experience in working with members of the medical profession. We are familiar with your unique (and busy) working patterns, income progression and entity structures. This experience and our specialised knowledge of legislative rules and opportunies mean that we are well placed to develop a financial plan very specific to your circumstances, allowing you to achieve your long term goals and objectives.
As with any advice service, we must work through the advice process. Initially, we would meet with you to gain an understanding of your current financial position, goals and objectives. Thereafter, we are in a position to develop an analysis of your insurance needs and refine a protection strategy that takes into account your specific needs and preferences.
PPS Mutual provide select, qualified, adviser’s ‘accredited status’ where they have an established, professional, client base, are members of key industry associations, provide a dedicated client-centric service, have strong industry experience of at least 5 years and a robust business practice infrastructure.
Being accredited with PPS Mutual allows AMA Financial Planning access to a range of insurance offerings that provide policy definitions designed to suit the specific needs of medical and other professionals.
We work with healthcare professionals to maximise their superannuation savings over the long term. This could be by developing superannuation contribution strategies (salary sacrifice, personal contributions, or spouse contributions), managing super balances against the applicable superannuation balance caps, including those that apply to GESB West State, reviewing the underlying superannuation investment portfolio or evening up super account balances with your spouse.
When income is irregular, employer superannuation contributions may be, too. Where this is the case, or where you are self-employed, we may need to consider whether there is any benefit in making a ‘top up’ superannuation contribution toward the end of the financial year, as opposed to making regular contributions throughout the year.
Self Managed Superannuation Funds can provide a great vehicle for the investment of your retirement savings base.Such a structure can offer a greater degree of flexibility, investment choice (including property or business property) and control. However, a Self Managed Superannuation Fund is not right for everyone, disadadvantages include the legislative and administrative burden, the fact that the trustees are solely responsible for ensuring Fund compliance, and potentially significant accounting, administration and audit costs.
High income earners are subject to the same superanuation contribution caps as everyone. Where income exceeds $250,000 pa, Division 293 tax will also apply, which increases the superannuation contributions tax rate by an additional 15%, to 30%.
GESB West State Super is a constitutionally protected, untaxed superannuation scheme. The fund offers unique features and flexibilities, particularly in terms of super contributions that can be made. More detail is contained in an article available on our website at
Super Contribution Strategies for the Medical Profession
Superannuation is a tax effective means of saving for your eventual retirement. Increasing the contributions made to superannuation as well as ensuring the investment of your superannuation savings are appropriate, will drive long term growth and dictate the outcome on retirement. When you do retire, it is important that your asset base is appropriately, tax effectively, structured and is able to generate a sustainable retirement income, to replace the salary you will no longer receive after ceasing work.
Concessional contributions can be a tax effective means of saving for retirement. Doctors are able to make a concessional contribution up to the maximum cap, currently $30,000 pa, via salary sacrifice or a voluntary deductible contribution. It is important to note, that employer superannuation contributions count toward the cap, and if you are making a voluntary contribution, a notice of intent to claim a tax deduction should also be lodged with your superannuation fund within prescribed timeframes. In some cases, you may be able to carry forard unused concessional cap amounts from previous years.