A survey of more than 3,000 Australians aged over 50 found that 78 per cent would like to be able to pay directly into a retirement account rather than maintain a separate accumulation account. This would also eliminate a second set of fees and reduce the administrative burden of rolling funds together.
The Super Members Council and National Seniors Australia research also found that 79 per cent saw super as “very important” to their retirement, but nearly 90 per cent expressed concerns about the financial wellbeing of those who access their super early.
It said the primary concerns were twofold, including the damaging impact on financial security in retirement, particularly for people with lower super balances and the additional cost burden on future taxpayers due to increased reliance on the age pension.
“The high degree of pushback from older Australians against allowing early access to super corresponds with the significant value older Australians place on preservation,” the report read.
“A strong 89.5 per cent of older Australians said super must be saved for retirement, and 70 per cent said they would not have saved enough without super savings being compulsory. A significant majority of older Australians think the super system is strong and sustainable, but fewer of them felt it was truly equitable.”
The report also said women, people in poorer health, and Australians with less formal education had significantly lower levels of confidence in the equity of the super system.
Chris Grice, chief executive of NSA, said older people value superannuation and strongly support its underlying principles of universality, compulsion, preservation and concessional taxation.
“While the fundamentals are strong and should be maintained, there is support for sensible changes to make super even better among retirees and those preparing for retirement,” Grice said.
“Superannuation helps people meet diverse needs as they age. The in-built flexibility of Australia’s super system gives retirees access to regular income to meet day-to-day living costs as well as lump sums for lifestyle, health and aged care costs in later life. That flexibility must be maintained.”
Misha Schubert, chief executive of the SMC, added that super is Australians’ “precious income” to live on in retirement, not a band-aid for cost-of-living pressures or enabling early withdrawals that would just whack up house prices.
“We urge policymakers to listen to older Australians and keep super safe for future generations,” she said.
“Australia’s super system is the envy of the world, but there is more to do to make it even fairer and ensure it works as strongly as it can for every single Australian in the system.”
