Pre-retirees desire advice amid preparation doubts

Over a third of Australians say they have minimal confidence in their retirement preparations for and 64% say they would like to receive advice from their superannuation fund, according to State Street Global Advisors (SSGA).

SSGA released its 2022 Global Retirement Reality Report, which surveyed over 3,500 workers across Australia, US, the UK and Ireland, including around 600 in Australia.

The survey aimed to measure the perceptions surrounding future retirement, specific barriers and the behaviour of those leaving the workforce. 

Although the Australian retirement system experienced recent changes including Your Future Your Super (YFYS) reforms and the Retirement Income Covenant, 40% of Australian respondents expressed little confidence regarding their readiness to retire and the percentage had only marginally changed over the last four years.

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The report identified that the confidence deficit was the most prevalent amongst those on lower incomes as well as those closest to retirement while women demonstrated far less optimism towards their financial readiness for retirement, with only 18% feeling prepared compared to 38% of men.

Only 17% of women were confident they would be able to retire when they wanted, contrasting to 38% for men.

Jonathan Shead, head of investments at State Street Australia, commented: “There is clearly still much work to be done, by both industry and government, in simplifying, explaining and confidence building for our national retirement system”.

Another notable factor was that 64% of Australians would like access to one-to-one financial consulting and advice from their super fund. The same percentage also wanted to see a tool such as a retirement income calculator added to their fund while the highest percentage (72%) wanted a source of guaranteed income such as an annuity.

The lowest percentage (53%) sought in-person or web-based education forums, which SSGA said “should give pause to those who believe education is the panacea”.

The possibility of super funds giving advice was a topic that had been proposed during the Quality of Advice Review although KPMG had forecast it could take a minimum of three years for this to come to fruition.

Amongst the factors most negatively impacting confidence surrounding retirement, inflation was the largest dampener. This was present for both Australia, with 65% including inflation in their top three factors, and the rest of the world, where 70% selected this issue.

Mortgage or rental costs were other major concerns troubling 35% of Australians, amidst rising interest rates and economic slowdown globally. 

Additional findings indicated that women demonstrated far less optimism towards their financial readiness for retirement, with only 18% of women feeling prepared compared to 38% of men. Only 17% of women were confident they will be able to retire when they want to, contrasting 38% for men.