Most Australians (63 per cent) do not have a plan for how they will live in retirement and 73 per cent plan to use the Age Pension when they retire, according to Sunsuper.
Sunsuper’s latest report surveyed over 1,000 Australians and found that 30 per cent of people never thought about their retirement and four per cent did not care about retiring. The remaining 66 per cent had vastly mixed feelings.
Those who felt positively (33 per cent) about retiring were sure they had enough money to live comfortably, while those who were nervous or scared (33 per cent) about retiring felt they did not know how much money they would need or did not believe they would have enough superannuation.
The report also found that 40 per cent of Australians surveyed did not know or had not thought about using their super to fund their retirement.
Sunsuper’s head of advice and retail distribution, Anne Fuchs, said it was concerning that many Australians did not know or had not thought about using their super to fund retirement.
“Interestingly, the report found that after having a healthy family, the two things people want most in life is to retire early, live a comfortable retirement and travel and to have a job they love,” she said.
“For the 63 per cent of workers who don’t have a retirement plan, getting advice at any age will make a difference later in life – which might mean the difference between that trip overseas each year.
“We know that those who get advice are generally better off in retirement, so we have made significant changes to our business, to make it easier for members to get the right information and easier for advisers to work with us.”
The report also found that 42 per cent of Australians either had no idea or had not thought about what to do with their super when they retired.
Over one-third (36 per cent) would open an income account to take out regular payments, 28 per cent 13 per cent would take it out as a lumpsum, and nine per cent would reinvest it.
