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In brief
- A recent survey from the Super Members Council has prompted concerns for Australians.
- 26 per cent of Australians can’t name their super fund, with the figure growing to 28 per cent for young people aged 18 to 34.
What’s Your Superannuation Fund?
It’s a question that stumps a significant portion of Australians, with one in four unable to name their superannuation fund when asked. This highlights a growing concern about the lack of engagement workers have with their retirement savings plans.
A recent survey conducted by the leading body for superannuation organizations reveals that 26% of Australians are unaware of their super fund’s name. This figure climbs to 28% among the younger demographic, particularly those aged between 18 and 34.
Even among those who can identify their super fund, about a third either rarely check their super balances or do so just once annually. This lack of attention could lead to unfavorable outcomes, with individuals potentially retiring with less financial security than they might have achieved otherwise.
The Super Members Council warns that such disengagement poses a real risk to future financial well-being, emphasizing the importance of staying informed and involved with one’s retirement planning.
“If you’re not checking your super regularly or if you’re not engaged with it, it may be that you miss out on thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars by retirement,” council chief executive Misha Schubert said.
Workers could be losing out on valuable compounding investment returns if they do not check that they have been paid super by employers, an issue affecting 3.3 million people and costing about $6 billion a year.
People who haven’t consolidated their super accounts could be paying multiple sets of fees.
Modelling from the council shows paying 0.1 per cent more in fees could make someone $14,000 worse off at retirement, while paying one per cent more could make someone miss out on $128,000.
Schubert said complacency might come from the fact that retirement was hard to imagine for those at the start of their working lives.
“For many young people, retirement feels like it’s such a long way off, and so it can be easy for them to get busy in their lives and to not think a lot about their super,” she said.
Young people were six times more likely to take action to improve their retirement savings when they better understood their super.
“The more engaged you are with your super, the more likely you are to take key decisions at life stages that will help strengthen your financial security in retirement,” Schubert said.
Workers should make sure they are being paid all their super, consolidate their accounts into one, ensure they are with a top-performing fund and consider making extra contributions.
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