Superannuation – will you retire on it?
Business consultancy Australia
My cynical view is, “For the majority, probably not!” Younger workers with time on their side perceive no immediate need and therefore, have little interest. Older workers have the need and the regret of not acting sooner, but lack the time to accumulate sufficient retirement savings.
I believe that if it wasn’t for compulsory superannuation and union super funds, most workers wouldn’t have any superannuation savings at all. Nor would they have any personal insurance protection. To most people, superannuation is just another form to fill in when starting a new job; and to get life insurance is just another budget impost with a benefit that the life insured will never see.
It is only when it is too late that the benefits of needs-based superannuation savings and insurance protection are fully realized. I regularly receive enquiries from people who are two years off retirement or who have been diagnosed with cancer. As much as I feel their desperation and regret, we are planners, not magicians.
But then the phone rings and the person on the other end tells me that they have taken stock of their life and they have realised that they need to budget; address their debts; start saving for the future; and protect their family (while still healthy) in case life deals them an unfortunate blow.
These are the clients I live for – people who live for today and want to plan for tomorrow; people who look past their own mortality to the financial welfare of their spouse and children.
I again remember why I chose this profession – to help people who are willing to help themselves.