Australian retirees have less than half the funds required for a comfortable retirement

About two-thirds of baby boomers retiring from full-time work in Australia are inadequately prepared to retire, according to a report by the industry's top body released on Wednesday.

According to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, slightly over 30 per cent of Australians can afford a decent lifestyle in retirement. The medium pension account balance for men 60-64 years of age was at A$205,385 as of June 2022 and A$153,685 for women the same age, far from the industry's accepted comfortable retirement standard of A$690,000 for couples and A$595,000 for singles.

But now that the nation's pension pool is approaching A$4 trillion and some 2.5 million Australians are expected to retire in the coming decade, superannuation becomes a critical line of defence for many a retirement purse. Compulsorily foisted on the workforce in 1992, its mandatory contribution to superannuation is now 11.5 per cent of wages and will increase to 12 per cent next year.

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Still, as the pension system matures and balances rise, the percentage of people retiring with enough money to fund a comfortable lifestyle will climb to 50 per cent or more by 2050, ASFA Chief Executive Officer Mary Delahunty said in an interview.

“The people retiring now have not had a full benefit for their working life,” Delahunty said. “So they will still require a good level of government help, or help from the rest of us, to be able to retire with dignity.”

Retirement savings anxiety persists, even in a country like Australia which regularly ranks atop the world's top pension systems. Some 40 per cent of Australians say they'll never have enough money to retire, a figure that seems paradoxical given that this country boasts one of the world's most envied pensions systems, a Natixis Investment Managers survey released last week indicated.

“Lots of people are concerned about the comfort and ability of retirees at the moment because of the cost of living rises,” Delahunty said.

Balances were down slightly in the 12 months to June 2022 compared to the previous year due to poor investment returns, but have since averaged an annual return of more than 9 per cent, Delahunty said.

The Australian pension system is also contributing its quota to the easing of pressure on the public purse. According to a 2023 report by the government, spending on pensions is predicted to decline to 2 per cent of gross domestic product in 40 years, despite this ageing population, mainly because superannuation is increasingly funding retirement.

But a gender gap at work means every age cohort also has a pension pot that is unequal, said Delahunty. Male balances, on average, are A$182,667, while females average A$146,146, according to ASFA.

A shortage of financial advisers is another challenge to the sector. The government has proclaimed a range of proposed reforms for the sector.