Mum’s $50,000 super balance exposes growing retirement concern for 4 million Aussies: ‘Not living well’
Despite Treasury projections of larger super balances for retirees, only 16 per cent of Australians believe they’ll have enough money to really enjoy themselves once they leave the workforce.
The mindset towards retirement being something for hard-working Aussies to look forward to in their golden years has changed significantly, with many now fearing that picture may never materialise. Instead of viewing retirement as a time to relax into a leisurely lifestyle, concerns are rising that the focus will be on ‘just getting by’.
These fears have grown from millions of Australians believing their superannuation balances won’t be enough to fully fund retirement. According to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) a modest retirement would cost a single Australian $56,156 a year, or $78,998 for couples.
Instead, millions of Aussies believe they’ll never have enough money to retire comfortably or that they’ll need to pick up part-time employment to make ends meet, according to new survey data from Finder.
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The survey of 757 employed Australians found that almost one in four respondents (24 per cent) believe their superannuation will provide just enough to cover the bare essentials in later life.
Meanwhile only 17 per cent of respondents said they believe they will never have enough money to retire – number that would equate to more than 4 million people, Finder said.
“A significant number of Australians are expecting retirement to be about getting by, not living well,” Finder’s money expert Richard Whitten says.
“Instead of picturing years of freedom after decades of work, many are bracing for a longer working life or resetting expectations of what retirement will look like.”
Penny English, 53, is one of those Australians.
English recently told Yahoo Finance that with only $50,000 in superannuation, retirement didn’t seem achievable.
“It’s quite scary,” she said, saying she expected to work into her late 60s and hoped to rely in some part on the Age Pension.
ASFA’s Super Detective Calculator shows that at English’s age, the average Australian should have $332,000 in savings based on a $75,000 annual income. By 65, that figure should increase to $579,500.
“I feel like by the time I retire, I’ll only have about $100,000 in super,” English said.
Whitten urges Australians to pay attention to their super as early as possible, as it allows you the “room to build your balance before you need it” – even if retirement feels a long way off.
“Simple steps like comparing super funds, consolidating multiple accounts, reviewing your investment option and making extra contributions can add tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to your balance by the time you retire.”
