Retirees who have already entered in an advice partnership have shown high trust and satisfaction rates and said the positive impact of expert financial advice should not be underestimated, according to Allianz Retire plus.
The research also found that more should be done to help educate a greater proportion of non-advised Australians to receive the knowledge.
The firm’s research, which looked at those who would be retiring in the next seven years and those currently retired, found that a high 94% of those Australians who sought expert advice were satisfied with their advice and had a healthy trusted relationship with their advisers.
At the same time, 63% of this group indicated they were with their adviser for over five years, and one in two recommended their services, citing a good relationship as the main driver.
Around half of the respondents also believed financial advisers had valuable expertise and delivered a useful service, but over 50% of those aged 65 and over indicated they would not use an adviser.
The most cited reasons included feeling financially capable on their own, not having enough funds to invest and the perceived (high) cost of advice.
Of those that did use a financial adviser, over half said the desire to know more about their financial position and confirmation they were doing enough for retirement.
The findings also suggested that financial literacy and advice accessibility may be key barriers in the adoption of more Australians seeking quality advice as:
- 79% of Australian retirees state they were responsible for their finances and it’s important for them to feel in control of their money, yet;
- Only a mere 44% were feeling secure in their current financial position.
“The main challenge we believe is to feel confident in retirement. These results indicate more can be done to help Australians become financially literate, benefit from an advice partnership and feel confident with their retirement position,” Allianz Retire Plus chief officer Matthew Rady.
“With 1,000 Australians retiring a day, there has never been a more pressing need to undertake this research and gain a deeper appreciation of the complexities and barriers at play. We believe the results gained from this research add to our understanding of the important role advisers play in setting up people for a happy retirement.”
