Main source of retirement income
Q. After you reach retirement age, what do you expect will be your main source of income?
| Total | Men | Women | Aged 18-34 | Aged 35-54 | Aged 55+ | Dec 2013 | |||
| The Government age pension | 25% | 24% | 27% | 15% | 28% | 42% | 27% | ||
| Your superannuation | 39% | 39% | 39% | 44% | 33% | 40% | 43% | ||
| Other investments | 15% | 20% | 10% | 17% | 16% | 11% | 15% | ||
| Other | 2% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 5% | 2% | ||
| Don’t know | 19% | 16% | 23% | 23% | 22% | 2% | 12% |
39% expect their superannuation will be their main form of income after retirement and 25% will mainly rely in the age pension. 42% of those aged 55+ expect to rely on the age pension compared to 15% of those aged 18-34.
Of those on higher incomes ($1,600+ pw), only 13% expect to rely on the age pension – 49% expect superannuation to be their main source of income and 20% said they would rely on other investments.
The main change since this question was asked in December 2013 was that those who “don’t know” has increased from 12% to 19%.
Attention paid to retirement arrangements
Q. In general, how much attention do you pay to arrangements for your retirement income, such as your superannuation returns and fees, wealth management and other forms of long-term savings?
|
Total |
|
Men |
Women |
Aged 18-34 |
Aged 35-54 |
Aged 55+ |
|
Mar 14 |
|
| A lot of attention |
15% |
14% |
15% |
4% |
12% |
31% |
21% |
||
| Some attention |
33% |
36% |
31% |
28% |
37% |
35% |
35% |
||
| Not much attention |
29% |
29% |
29% |
39% |
30% |
14% |
27% |
||
| None at all |
16% |
14% |
19% |
20% |
13% |
16% |
15% |
||
| Don’t know |
7% |
7% |
7% |
9% |
8% |
3% |
3% |
15% say they pay a lot of attention to arrangements for retirement income and a further 33% say they pay some attention. 45% pay no or not much attention. This indicates somewhat less attention being paid to retirement income that when this question was asked in March.
Interest in retirement income increases with age – 31% of those aged 55+ are paying a lot of attention compared to just 4% of those aged 18-34.
Those on higher incomes also pay more attention to their retirement income – 54% of those earning $1,600+ pw are paying a lot or some attention compared to 42% of those earning under $600 pw.
Main retirement income
Q. After you reach retirement age, what do you expect will be your main source of income?
|
Total |
|
Men |
Women |
|
Aged 18-34 |
Aged 35-54 |
Aged 55+ |
|
| The Government age pension |
27% |
25% |
29% |
20% |
26% |
45% |
||
| Your superannuation |
43% |
49% |
38% |
49% |
43% |
33% |
||
| Other investments |
15% |
14% |
16% |
18% |
15% |
11% |
||
| Other |
2% |
1% |
2% |
1% |
1% |
5% |
||
| Don’t know |
12% |
11% |
14% |
12% |
15% |
7% |
* Excludes already retired or not working
43% expect their superannuation will be their main form of income after retirement and 27% will mainly rely in the age pension. 45% of those aged 55+ expect to rely on the age pension compared to 20% of those aged 18-34.
Of those on higher incomes ($1,600+ pw), only 15% expect to rely on the age pension – 54% expect superannuation to be their main source of income and 23% said they would rely on other investments.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Essential Report
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Views towards re-electing the federal Coalition government
- Party trust to handle issues
- Importance of Australia’s international reputation
- Scott Morrison’s impact on Australia’s international reputation
- Views towards Australia’s international reputation
Sign up for updates
Receive the Essential Report in your inbox.Essential Tags
Recent Comments
