How do I transfer from an Income Stream to a Personal Super? How do I make an additional contribution (also known as a pension refresh)?

This guide outlines the steps for transferring funds from an existing Standard Income Stream or Transition to Retirement Income Stream account back to a Personal Super (accumulation) account, either in full or in part. Transfers can be made to a new or existing Personal Super account and are conducted on an 'in specie' basis, meaning investments are transferred as they are, without being sold. Please consider any potential Centrelink impacts when transferring out of an Income Stream account.  

Once your/your client's income stream has commenced you cannot make any further contributions or rollovers into it. If you/your client have received contributions or rollovers after commencing an income stream, you/your client may choose to roll an existing income stream account balance into a new or existing accumulation account, and from there, some or all of the balance can be used to commence a new income stream.  

If you are a client you should seek financial advice before using this facility as there could be financial, tax or social security implications from moving your benefits between income stream and accumulation phase.   

This guide covers:

1. How advisers can transfer a client’s full Income Stream account to an existing or new Personal Super account.
2. How advisers can transfer part of a client’s Income Stream account to an existing or new Personal Super account.
3. How investors can transfer their own Income Stream account to a new or existing super account, either in part or in full.

How advisers can transfer a client’s full Income Stream account to an existing or new Personal Super account

Advisers can transfer an Income Stream account to a Personal Super account entirely online, with no paperwork required. Transfers are typically finalised on the same day the transfer request is submitted. 

Transfers using this functionality are only allowed if the Income Stream and Personal Super accounts are under the same client ID. Currently, only full transfers are supported; partial transfer functionality will be introduced in future updates. Refer to the below section for partial transfers, which covers all transfer scenarios. 

Step 1: Select the Income Stream account to transfer from 

• Log in to your Netwealth online account.
• Use the search bar to select your client’s Income Stream account.
• Navigate via the main menu to ‘Activities & Tasks’ > ‘Transfer Between Accounts (new)’.
• Choose the Income Stream account you wish to transfer from under ‘Transfer From’.

Step 2: Address any validation issues 

If issues preventing the transfer are identified, you will be notified how to resolve them. Once resolved, you can resubmit the transfer request. Validation issues could be things such as: pending transactions or payments. This enhancement allows you to address issues proactively eliminating the need for manual review and can reduce processing times.

Step 3: Select the super account to transfer to

Choose whether to transfer to an existing Super Accelerator Accumulation account or create a new Personal Super account under ‘Transfer To’. 

Step 4: Review and confirm beneficiary details

When transferring an Income Stream account to a Personal Super account:

If transferring to a new accumulation account

• You may choose to transfer the existing binding death nomination from the Income Stream account.
• If no nominations exist, this section will remain blank.
• Note: Reversionary nominations are not applicable to accumulation accounts.

If transferring to an existing accumulation account

• Beneficiary nominations from the Income Stream account will not transfer.
• Existing nominations on the accumulation account will remain unchanged.

To update or add a binding death nomination, wait until the transfer is complete, then submit a new nomination form.

Step 5: Review and confirm advice fee details

 When transferring an Income Stream account to a Personal Super account:

If transferring to a new accumulation account:

• You can transfer the existing fee structure or set the new account to zero fees.

If transferring to an existing accumulation account:

• The fee structure of the existing account will apply.

To make changes to the fee structure, wait until the transfer is complete, then update fees via the ‘Update Fees’ page.

Step 6: Acknowledge and submit

Confirm the ‘Acknowledgement and Consent’ statement, then select ‘Submit’. You can also download a pre-filled transfer form if needed for your records.

Step 7: Review and confirm

Review the summary page and confirm to finalise the transfer. Transfers are generally completed within 1 business day, often within 30–60 minutes, but may take up to 3–5 days.

How advisers can transfer part of a client’s Income Stream account to an existing or new Personal Super account

For partial transfers, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Netwealth online account.
2. Select the Income Stream account you wish to transfer from using the search bar.
3. Navigate to ‘Activities & Tasks’ > ‘Transfer Between Accounts’.
4. Follow the wizard prompts to provide transfer instructions.
5. Download and sign the pre-populated form.
6. Upload the completed form via ‘Activities and Tasks > Document Upload’.
7. You will receive a transaction ID for reference.

Transfers usually take 5–10 business days. Netwealth will contact you if additional information is required.

How investors can transfer their Income Stream account to a new or existing super account

 If you have online transaction access, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Netwealth online account.
2. Navigate to ‘Transactions > Transfer Between Accounts’.
3. Complete the steps in the transfer tool.
4. Download and sign the pre-populated form.
5. Submit the form to Netwealth via the listed methods (email, post, etc.).

 If you do not have online transaction access, complete the ‘Transfer from Income Stream ’ form and send it to Netwealth via email or post. Contact details can be found at the bottom of the form. 

Tips for how to complete the form

Step 1. Provide member details	Input the details of the applicants' current Netwealth income stream account, that is, the Client name and Client number and/or account number. This information can be found on any report letter or statement provided by us, or at the top right-hand side of the screen when any account has been selected.
Step 2. Transfer details - Account type to transfer to	Select to transfer to personal super. If you already have an accumulation account with Netwealth that you wish to transfer to, input the account number here. If you do not already have a personal super account with Netwealth, through this process, a Super Accelerator account will be established.
Step 2. Transfer details - Additional contribution/rollover expected	Input the amount of your additional contribution/rollovers in this step. Netwealth will wait until the additional amount has been received before transferring to a new income stream.
Step 3. Additional transfer details- Account type	Choose to transfer to a standard income stream or transition to a retirement income stream.
Step 3. Additional transfer details - Amount to transfer	Transfer some or all of the cash/investments to your new income stream account. If you are leaving an accumulation account open, the minimum amount to leave in super is the Netwealth minimum cash requirement of $5000 or 1%, whichever is greater.
Step 4. Declare condition of release	To commence your income stream and access preserved benefits or restricted non-preserved benefits, a member must satisfy one of the conditions of release. Elect the appropriate condition here.
Step 5. Nominate your income stream details	Input the frequency, and amount of income you would like to get paid, before any taxes and other deductions come out.
Step 8. Provide notice of intent to claim a tax deduction for personal contributions	If you have made a non-concessional contribution and would like to claim a tax deduction and have not yet, see How to get started tips above on how to process this online.
Step 9. Claim your tax-free threshold and/or notify your Tax File Number (‘TFN’)	If the account holder is under the age of 60 and would like to claim the tax-free threshold, see How to get started tips above for instructions.
Step 10. Nominate bank account details (optional)	Only complete this step if the nominated account in which the income stream payments are to be paid differs from the nominated account details currently on file. If you are adding a brand new nominated account, please see our guide to adding new nominated bank details.
Step 13. Read and sign this client declaration	Investors (and in some instances adviser clients) must read and sign this declaration.
Step 14: Signatory - Advisers (acting on behalf of their clients)	Advisers must read and sign the adviser declaration (to be completed by an Adviser Representative providing instruction on behalf of their client). As long as account existing details are being carried over from the existing account into the new account in steps 6, 10 and 11 of the form, no client signature is required on this form. If these details in these sections are being updated, client sign off is required in Step 13.