Would you rather $10,000 in cash right now or $50,000 in your super? \u00b7 Finder\/Getty <\/p>\n
Everyone loves to play a bit of \u2018would you rather?\u2019 \u2014 the game where you pose hypothetical decisions and make people choose an option.<\/p>\n
So here\u2019s one for you: would you rather receive $10,000 straight into your bank<\/a> account today, or have $50,000 deposited into your superannuation<\/a>?<\/p>\n At Finder, we regularly survey Aussie consumers to gauge people\u2019s attitudes and behaviours around money.<\/p>\n RELATED<\/strong><\/p>\n For most of the questions we ask, I know exactly how I myself would answer it.<\/p>\n But I\u2019ll be honest, this one initially had me a bit stumped.<\/p>\n Of the 1000+ Aussies we surveyed, 51 per cent would choose the $10,000 today, while 49 per cent would opt for the $50,000 into their super fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n Being an almost exact 50\/50 split, it\u2019s clearly a choice that has Aussies divided.<\/p>\n So, let\u2019s delve into the pros and cons of each option (and see which one I\u2019d choose at the end).<\/p>\n There are a number of obvious benefits to taking the $10,000 cash and running.<\/p>\n The main one being that you get it right away.<\/p>\n With the current cost-of-living crisis<\/a>, $10,000 would be a huge help towards sky-high energy bills<\/a>, expensive groceries<\/a> and never-ending health insurance price hikes<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you had any high-interest debt, such as a personal loan or credit card debt, taking the $10,000 and using it to pay this down would be a really smart move.<\/p>\n Similarly, if you\u2019re living paycheck to paycheck without any emergency savings<\/a>, taking the cash and putting it into an emergency fund is a good idea to help cover any unexpected expenses that could put you into financial stress.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s the benefit of being able to choose how you invest it \u2014 rather than it being invested for you in your super.<\/p>\n You could put it towards a house deposit, invest it in the sharemarket or even buy some cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re lucky, you could turn that $10,000 into a whole lot more (but the opposite is also true – you could lose it pretty quickly if the market takes a turn).<\/p>\n The benefit of buying shares yourself outside of your super is you can sell them and cash in whenever you want. In your super, it\u2019s locked away until retirement.<\/p>\n The Finder survey found that young Australians are the most likely to opt for the cash, with a whopping 63 per cent of Gen Z admitting they\u2019d take the money now, compared to 44 per cent of Gen X.<\/p>\n Story Continues <\/p>\n But ironically, young Aussies would benefit more than any other generation by doing the opposite. Let\u2019s get into that now.<\/p>\n Firstly, the most obvious downside of this option is that you can\u2019t access the money until you retire.<\/p>\n Nope, not even one cent.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re in your 20s or 30s, that means waiting at least 30 – 40 years before you can access it.<\/p>\n But the benefit of this option is that it\u2019s more money.<\/p>\n Not only is $50,000 more than $10,000, but that $50,000 will be worth even more by the time you can access it thanks to compound growth.<\/p>\n For example, let\u2019s assume you\u2019re 35, earning an $80,000 salary and have a current super balance of $50,000. According to the moneysmart<\/a> super calculator, you\u2019d retire with $500,835.<\/p>\n Now let\u2019s use the exact same situation but add a one-off $50,000 contribution to your fund. You\u2019d now be looking at a retirement balance of $609,231. That\u2019s $109,000 more!<\/p>\n This is also based on an average return for a standard super fund – you could be looking at an even higher return if you\u2019re in a high growth super fund<\/a>. And the younger you are, the longer your money will be invested so the more you stand to benefit from making an extra contribution.<\/p>\n Although the $10,000 cash is hugely tempting and could be a great help with some of my current expenses, I\u2019d choose the $50,000 in my super.<\/p>\n This is partly because I don\u2019t have any high-interest debt to pay down and I already have an emergency savings buffer. But it\u2019s also because I\u2019m only in my 30s \u2013 I still have a good 30 odd years for the money in my super to grow and I know that $50,000 would be worth a great deal more when I retire.<\/p>\n That\u2019s just an offer that\u2019d be too good to refuse! If only it were real.<\/p>\n Get the latest Yahoo Finance news – follow us on <\/strong>Facebook<\/strong><\/a>, <\/strong>LinkedIn<\/strong><\/a> and <\/strong>Instagram<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n