Financial advice and guidance remain critical to Australians meeting their retirement savings objectives, according to new research released by MLC.
The research, the latest MLC Wealth Sentiment Survey, has confirmed that Australia is still facing a retirement incomes adequacy gap, and that while many Australians believe now is a good time to pay off debt and top-up their super, few are appropriately informed about how to do so.
Releasing the research today, MLC General Manager Corporate Super, Lara Bourguignon said it was worrying that half the population still did not use a financial planner or even have a financial plan.
“Our recent Australia Today whitepaper showed that Australians want it all when it comes to lifestyle,” she said. “But, having it all doesn’t just happen overnight. Getting yourself a financial plan and the right help, guidance and advice is critical.”
Key findings from the MLC research are as follows:
- 40 per cent of Australians don’t know how much they have saved in super.
- Around 40 per cent of Australian women do not expect to have enough money to retire on, compared to around 31 per cent of men.
- 1 in 4 Australian women also believe that they will have “far from enough” to retire on.
- We expect to retire with around $500,000 on average, but nearly 1 in 5 expect to have less than $100,000 and 1 in 5 don’t know.
- When it comes to having more than enough to retire on, very few of us actually think we will achieve this goal – only 7 per cent of men, 4 per cent of women.
