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New research by Mortgage Choice has revealed that the vast majority of Australians are worried about their retirement funds.
According to the group’s inaugural Financial Confidence survey, 65.2 per cent of respondents said they are worried that they won’t have enough money to retire comfortably.
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Of those respondents, 60.7 per cent believe they would need more than $500,000 in order to retire comfortably, while 18.5 per cent said they had “no idea” how much money they would need.
“It is clear from the data that Australians are worried about their retirement,” Mortgage Choice chief executive officer John Flavell said.
“The vast majority of Australians want to live what they consider a ‘comfortable’ retirement, but to do that, they believe they need to have a huge amount of money in savings.”
Despite the high number of Australians worried about their retirement, the survey found that more than 50 per cent of respondents are not properly planning for when the time comes.
“It surprises me that so many Australians are worried about retirement, yet they do nothing to plan for this event until it is all but upon them,” Mr Flavell said.
According to Mr Flavell one in every four Australians said they didn’t know how much money they currently had in super, while three in four said they were not making additional contributions to their super.
“The statistics would suggest Australians don’t give serious thought to how they may fund their retirement until it is too late,” Mr Flavell said.
“Australians should be looking to boost their savings pool years before they actually retire. And, one of the best ways to do that is by making additional super contributions if and where possible.
“For those Australians who want to not only retire comfortably, but retire on their own terms, they need to start planning early.”
[Related: Financial literacy more important than ever: FBAA]
