Australians still short of comfortable retirement

Australians are still in danger of falling short of a comfortable retirement, according to new data released at the Conference of Major Superannuation Funds (CMSF) this week.

The data, the product of research by Professor Ken Davis at the Australian Centre for Financial Studies, referenced results from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) retirement calculators to point to a deficiency in retirement income even among younger Australian workers - and therefore continuing significant reliance on the age pension.

However the research also pointed to superannuation being a better option for delivering on a comfortable retirement than reliance on the value of the family home.

It suggested that super had twice the effect of home value.

On the question of whether Australians were topping up their superannuation via their own contributions, the research pointed to a worrying downward trend since 2002, suggesting that most Australians were relying almost entirely on the superannuation guarantee.

This seemed to be reflected in the fact individual superannuation accumulation appeared to have slowed from levels recorded between 2002 and 2006.