POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
Super industry needs to educate consumers: Mercer
Australia's superannuation industry needs to better prepare consumers for the realities of retirement, with research revealing the average Australian will outlive their super by five years.
Data from Mercer's ‘Expectations versus reality of retirement' survey showed that 40 per cent of Australians were forced into earlier retirement before they were financially ready, due to redundancy or for health reasons.
While half the population underestimated their life expectancy by more than two year, with one in four white collar workers living four years longer than average, the research found.
Mercer's Managing Director and Pacific Market Leader, David Anderson, said the increasing life-expectancy of Australians flagged the need for super funds to take proactive steps to prepare clients for retirement.
"The superannuation industry has a responsibility to educate consumers and provide innovative solutions to help during retirement as well as leading up to it," he said.
"We're beginning to see a wider range of solutions emerge as the industry shifts its focus from accumulating wealth to providing an income throughout retirement — to the very end — and this is encouraging for Australians."
The research also revealed that almost half of all the moment surveyed were concerned about the state of their finances in later life, while a third of men were.
It also found that two thirds of retired respondents said they would "simply be careful" with how they used their savings to combat longevity concerns.
While only one in three respondents said they would engage with a financial advisor to protect them against longevity risk.
AUTHOR
Nicholas O'Donoghue
Nicholas is a journalist for Money Management and Super Review. Nicholas has several years experience as a journalist, reporting and managing websites for various news publications covering the medical and pharmaceuticals sector.
Recommended for you
The lower outlook for inflation has set the stage for another two rate cuts over the first half of 2026, according to Westpac.
With private asset valuations emerging as a key concern for both regulators and the broader market, Apollo Global Management has called on the corporate regulator to issue clear principles on valuation practices, including guidance on the disclosures it expects from market participants.
Institutional asset owners are largely rethinking their exposure to the US, with private markets increasingly being viewed as a strategic investment allocation, new research has shown.
Australia’s corporate regulator has been told it must quickly modernise its oversight of private markets, after being caught off guard by the complexity, size, and opacity of the asset class now dominating institutional portfolios.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
92.15 3 y p.a(%)
2
Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF
53.24 3 y p.a(%)
3
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
43.15 3 y p.a(%)
4
DomaCom Shoreline North Coogee
36.26 3 y p.a(%)
5
GAM LSA Private Shares AU I
35.87 3 y p.a(%)
