Older Australians want to work past retirement age but superannuation rules need to change, advocates claims

For many people, reaching your golden years means retirement and leisure but new research shows many older Australians want to keep working and advocates say rules around superannuation need to “move with the times”.

A survey of 1500 people by the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) found that while Australians’ views on retirement varied, people from all age groups said they want to maintain some type of work in retirement in order to “keep occupied”.

ASFA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mary Delahunty said while the 18 to 24-year-old age group reported the strongest intention to stay employed at all ages, a quarter of people still working at 65 and older said they wanted to maintain some form of employment for the social connection and stimulation.

“This research shows us the days of working to customary retirement age and then putting your feet up are long gone,” Delahunty said.

“The rules around superannuation need to change to reflect this. Currently, Australians who’ve hit preservation age can’t draw down on their super, and top up the same account.

“Being forced to have two or more accounts, one account to take money from and one to put money into, doesn’t make sense with our modern, fluid approaches to retirement.”

However, across all age groups a small but consistent minority of participants believed they will need to continue to work part-time or casually in retirement due to financial necessity.

ASFA CEO Mary Delahuntly said their research clearly showed the need for Australians to have “low- or no-cost financial advice as they transition retirement.”

“Having your options clearly laid out by a financial advisor from your super fund, as the Quality of Advice Review Final Report recommends, could only benefit the hundreds of thousands of Australians deciding how best to manage their finances at this important time,” she said.

Those approaching retirement will soon have greater access to reliable and affordable financial advice after the Federal Government recently announced a series of new superannuation changes that are poised to improve the financial prospects of retirees.

The upcoming changes to the superannuation industry came after the government said they would adopt the bulk of Quality of Advice review recommendations to ensure Australians have access to reliable and affordable financial advice.

These reforms aim to address the high cost of financial advice, better protect consumers, and introduce measures that ensure Australians are able to access helpful information that could make a positive difference to their quality of life in retirement.

The proposed reforms will introduce measures that will ensure:

• Superannuation funds can offer better advice to members before and during retirement.
• Superannuation trustees can decide how they charge for advice to make it more affordable and accessible for all members.

The Government is expected to develop legislation over the coming year to deliver these reforms.

IMPORTANT LEGAL INFO This article is of a general nature and FYI only, because it doesn’t take into account your financial or legal situation, objectives or needs. That means it’s not financial product or legal advice and shouldn’t be relied upon as if it is. Before making a financial or legal decision, you should work out if the info is appropriate for your situation and get independent, licensed financial services or legal advice.