The long-term nature of superannuation means many Australians don't plan adequately for retirement, a new survey has revealed.
A Roy Morgan survey has found 30.2% of the population aged 18 to 64 consider retirement too far away to plan for.
Unsuprisingly, younger Australians are most likely to feel retirement is too far away to plan for. But in critical pre-retirement years of 50 to 54, 16.6% fail to prioritise retirement planning.
"While many Australians know they should plan for their future, many still fail to. Mor than a third (38%) of the population between 18 and 64 said they agreed about the importance of retirement planning, but procrastinated and gave other things priority," Roy Morgan communications director Norman Morris said.
Morris said more needed to be done to make people aware of the importance of planning their retirement.
“The superannuation industry and the government have roles to play here to make people aware of the benefits of financial planning, such as creating a more stable set of conditions and rules for superannuation that will improve confidence in being able to plan for the long term. Frequent changes or speculation of changes to the rules governing superannuation do not instil confidence in what for most people is a 40-plus year time frame. There is also a need to improve people’s understanding of superannuation: from its terminology, adequacy and advantages, to its fees and financial advice."
