New data illustrates why super cannot be viewed alone when discussing the future financial wellbeing of Australians.
While there's a lot of talk in Canberra about the role of superannuation, half of Australians’ net wealth is tied up in the value of their homes, a new report looking into Australians’ superannuation and wealth from Roy Morgan Research shows. The “Superannuation and Wealth Management in Australia” report shows equity in owner occupied homes accounts for 50 percent of total household net wealth in Australia, while superannuation (including pensions and annuities) accounts for 28.6 percent, bank accounts make up 8.2 percent with the remaining 13.2 percent held in a variety of assets such as investment properties or directly held shares.
“The very high level of publicity now coming from the government and opposition regarding the future of superannuation needs to be considered in the context of household net wealth," said Norman Morris, Industry Communications Director at Roy Morgan Research. "Adequacy of retirement funds involves more than simply looking at superannuation in isolation, and in fact if the rules on superannuation are changed it is likely that people will simply move their funds into other options even more than they currently do."