POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
New data confounds ‘comfortable retirement’ expectations
As the Government considers changes to superannuation tax concessions, new data presented to the Conference of Major Superannuation Funds has revealed that many Australians are already falling below what is regarded as a comfortable retirement.
The data, compiled by the Australian Centre for Financial Studies (ACFS), also made clear that the Treasurer, Scott Morrison, needed to be careful in targeting changes to tax concessions in circumstances where the 30 per cent of income earning households were being shown to be saving vastly more than they had earned, the bottom 20 per cent were spending more.
ACFS executive director, Amy Auster, said the research, much of which was preliminary, showed that, on average, retiree household expenditure was sitting at or below the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) standard for a "modest" retirement while very few could be deemed to meet the "comfortable" standard.
Further, Auster said the data suggested it was wrong to believe that retirees' expenditure reduced as they got older, noting that there did not appear to be a decline.
Indeed, the data showed that today's retirees were spending more than previous cohorts — something which might reflect higher levels of relative wealth.
The data confirmed that the family home and superannuation represented the largest components of wealth for retirees, but the ability of retirees to have a comfortable retirement depended on where they lived, with those living in regional areas experiencing a different outcome to those in the major cities.
Recommended for you
The corporate watchdog is preparing to publish a progress report on private credit this September, following a comprehensive review of the rapidly expanding market.
The fund has appointed Fotine Kotsilas as its new chief risk officer, continuing a series of executive changes aimed at driving growth, but NGS Super’s CEO has assured the fund won’t pursue growth for growth’s sake.
AMP Super has taken a strategic stake in Atmos Renewables, funding major battery and wind farm projects to boost Australia’s clean energy transition.
The major superannuation fund is facing legal action from ASIC after allegedly failing to inform the regulator about investigations into serious member service issues.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
74.26 3 y p.a(%)
2
Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF
72.60 3 y p.a(%)
3
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
44.46 3 y p.a(%)
4
Pengana High Conviction Equities B
39.12 3 y p.a(%)
5
Pengana High Conviction Equities A
39.05 3 y p.a(%)
