More young Australians start super early

Recent analysis of member data from QSuper has confirmed that a growing number of young Australians start accumulating their super earlier.

The data showed that the number of 18-year-old members increased by 24 per cent over the past four years, with the average balance of those members standing at around $1,200.

At the same time, the survey showed that family and friends were the number one source for information about finances for 86 per cent of respondents aged 18-24.

QSuper’s chief of member experience, Jason Murray said that since super was more relevant for young people they could benefit from a better understanding of super before they left school.

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“With more schools incorporating financial literacy into their curriculum, and plenty of valuable online resources like ASIC’s MoneySmart, young Australians are better equipped than ever to be smart about their super, but we know their most influential source of financial information is closer to come,” he said.

“Given the importance of family and friends as a source of information, we encourage parents who have teens and young adults to teach them the Super 6Rs, a checklist to provide quick and easy lessons in superannuation.

“For an 18-year-old, $1,200 is a significant-sized balance so it’s important for them to make sure they understand what super is, how it works and how they can easily grow their balance over the long term with not a lot of effort on their part.”