According to the latest MLC quarterly Australian Wealth Behaviour Survey released yesterday, of the 2000 Australians surveyed, six in 10 believe they will fall short of the amount of money needed to live a comfortable retirement.
Perhaps more alarming is that one in three say they will have “far from enough”.
When the survey asked participants what type of retirement they expected to have, words such as ‘stressful’, ‘frugal’ and ‘struggle’ were used.
“While economic indicators are quite strong, at an individual level it’s apparent that Australians aren’t feeling confident about their finances, and this may be causing anxiety about retirement,” said MLC General Manager of Customer Experience, Superannuation, Lara Bourguignon.
“What’s interesting is that respondents said they need over $1 million to retire on, but even small super balances help in retirement, so instead of being worried and fearful, people should feel motivated and empowered to take the little steps that make a big difference.”
The survey also revealed that, despite serious retirement concerns, three in four Australians have failed to see a financial adviser in the past five years, as they felt that, to seek such advice, they needed to be wealthy.
However, Lara Bourguignon says that Australians need to be reminded that any amount in their super balance will help.
“A typical balance of older workers now approaching retirement is less than $150,000,” said Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees Chief Executive Officer Eva Scheerlinck.
“Less than five out of every 1000 super fund members have $1 million or more in super.”
Are you concerned about not having enough money to retire in comfort?
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