Most Australians are worried about how the current economic climate will affect their household budgets with half saying they feel financial stress at least once a week or more, according to research.
A YouGov survey of over 2,000 Australians, commissioned by Australian Retirement Trust (ART), found recent economic events and rising cost of living pressures were causing massive financial stress.
Concerningly, one in six (16%) said they feel financially stressed every day. A third (33%) were concerned they did not have enough superannuation or savings for retirement.
“It’s good for people to be thinking about their finances – but not if it is causing stress and worry at such a high rate. That’s something that, as an industry, we should be helping to solve,” Anne Fuchs, ART’s head of advice, said.
While only 32% of the participants admitted they accessed financial advice in some capacity, 70% believed it could improve their financial wellbeing.
An overwhelming 96% said there were barriers to accessing financial advice while over half (57%) admitted it was simply too expensive.
“As the survey shows, Australians know financial advice can make a difference to their wellbeing, and they want to access it. But if the vast majority face barriers, it signals that there is a problem with the system. Advice isn’t just for the wealthy, it can improve financial outcomes no matter what you earn, and everyone should have the opportunity to access it,” Fuchs elaborated.
“Difficult economic times aren’t going away – we have seen seven interest rate rises in a row, with many economists forecasting more to come. Australians shouldn’t be left to manage that stress on their own and financial advice can help ease that worry.”
She noted that “financial advice should be easy to get and easy to understand” and this could be accomplished with a regulatory environment that enables that.
All eyes were on the Quality of Advice review, which would be submitted to Government on 16 December.
According to Bernard Reilly, ART chief executive, added: “We need to break down the barriers Australians face in getting financial advice, so we support the Quality of Advice Review. It’s challenging the industry to think differently about how advice can be delivered by super funds.”
