The independent survey of 843 fund members showed that while more than half of the respondents understood how much money they will need to have at retirement age in order to meet their lifestyle goals (51.6 per cent – up from 48.7 per cent the previous year), only one third of respondents (32.1 per cent) said that they are making extra contributions to their super fund.
“There remains a clear disconnect between people’s realisation of what they need to adequately retire on and the action required today to help satisfy those future demands,” said Paul Cahill, Chief Executive Officer of Club Plus Super.
“While it’s pleasing to see that the level of people contributing extra funds to their superannuation is growing, these contributions remain at an unsatisfactory level when one considers Australia’s rapidly ageing population.”
The survey also showed that of those respondents not certain that superannuation was a good place to invest their money, more than three in five cited financial markets (62.8 per cent) and the global environment (59.3 per cent) as key reasons.
While these figures remain high, fewer people cited financial markets compared to the previous year’s survey results.
Online respondents to the survey were much more likely to make extra contributions to their super fund compared to people surveyed over the phone.
Over three in five respondents (61.7 per cent) had used the fund’s website over the past year – the highest level of engagement since research began in 2008. This suggests that Australians are growing increasingly comfortable with managing their financial affairs online.
“A rapidly ageing population coupled with already strained healthcare and retirement infrastructure means that we may have the perfect storm approaching the world in the coming decades,” said Paul.
“It is clear from this research that the super industry needs to continue to work at educating and incentivising Australians to adequately plan for their retirement – otherwise we risk making this storm unnecessarily severe."
