Citibank research highlights lack of planning

Eighty-four per cent of Australians earning over $50,000 per year do not have a formal investment plan for the future, with 50 per cent relying on financial media and social circles for their investment opportunities.

According to independent research conducted by Marketing and Research Associates forCitibank, many of the 500 people surveyed - full-time workers aged 30 years plus and earning between $50,000 and $250,000 with $100,000 plus in investable assets - said while they do have investment plans, these tend to be either in their mind or are just a list of current assets.

“They are active investors and they know why they are investing, but they are going about it in a very ad hoc manner,” Citibank director of wealth management Andrew Barnes says.

Seventy per cent of respondents said they needed to know more about investing and investments, with just under 50 per cent feeling they are not getting the best from their investments.

Attitudes of this group towards adequacy of savings in retirement was another important finding, with almost 70 per cent of high income earners concerned they may not have enough to live on when they retire. Just over 50 per cent had calculated their retirement income in the past five years.

Citibank released the research to coincide with the launch of CitiGold Wealth Management Banking.

The online portfolio service integrates the tracking of both Citibank and non-bank savings, investment and insurance products online.