More Aussies worried about retirement

A growing number of Australians are feeling less secure about their financial future, believing that their retirement will see them with too much debt and not enough savings.

According to the MLC Wealth Sentiment Survey Q1 2017, the percentage of the 2000 respondents believing they will have “far from enough” wealth in their retirement grew from 24% to 32% between Q4 2016 and Q1 2017.

MLC general manager of customer experience for superannuation, Lara Bourguignon, said that many individual Australians lack confidence in their finances, despite strong economic indicators, leading to anxiety about retirement.

“What’s interesting is that respondents said they need over $1 million to retire on, but even small super balances help in retirement, so instead of being worried and fearful, people should feel motivated and empowered to take the little steps that make a big difference.”

This sense of financial anxiety is believed to be a factor in another finding of the survey – that more Australians are clearing debts and saving more money. The survey found that 21% of Australians plan to pay off more debt in the next three months, while just 13% planned to pay off less debt, and 26% planned to save more, while 19% planned to save less.

Other findings of the survey included:

• 62% of women don’t expect to have enough to retire on, compared with 52% of men.
• Despite concerns about funding retirement, three in four Australians haven’t seen a financial adviser in the last five years, though many respondents would be willing to do so if they were wealthier or had more complex finances.
• Only three in ten Australians are comfortable borrowing to invest, with a third of these preferring investing in property.

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