Australian workers are pessimistic about their retirement prospects with 61 per cent expecting to work on in some capacity after reaching 65 and 70 per cent expecting to rely on the age pension for at least some of their retirement income.

The figures come from a survey carried out by Industry Super Australia commissioned by News Corp Australia. The following findings were among those to emerge from the survey:

• 70 per cent of Australian workers expect to draw a Government pension in retirement;
• Of these, 33 per cent expect to draw full pension while 37 per cent plan to live on savings plus a part pension.
• Only 24 per cent expect to be fully self-funded and have no reliance on any government pension;

There is a general pessimism about superannuation balances, with only 22 per cent expecting to accrue balances that will be enough to fund the lifestyle they aspire to.

When in comes to super balance levels, the average Australian worker has around $144,000 saved in their super fund. And they believe by retirement they will have only $350,000 put away.

This is more than $200,000 shy of the $556,000 they would like to have on retirement to have a comfortable lifestyle. Half of people surveyed said they would like to put more money into super but don’t have the financial resources to do it.

Another 32 per cent said they are devoting financial resources to paying off a mortgage rather than making super payments.

There appears to be a major disconnect between workers’ retirement aspirations and realities. The average Australian worker would retire at 51 if money was no object, but most don’t expect to retire until 64. And the majority of baby boomers, 54 per cent, expect to work past the age of 65, while 9 per cent of Baby Boomers do not think they’ll be able to afford to retire at all.

“People in their 50s and 60s who are worried about how much they will have to retire with can rest assured that there are plenty of ways to boost their super and put themselves on the right retirement track.” said David Whiteley, CEO of Industry Super Australia

“The most important thing is to have your super working hard for you in retirement so make sure you are in a high performing fund that delivers all profits to members, like an industry super fund,” he said.

“It’s a good idea to seek out a trusted financial planner and get some advice that takes your personal situation into account. You can also talk to your super fund about the benefits of an income stream product that allows you to access a regular income in retirement while the balance remains invested,” Mr Whiteley said.

The New Daily is owned by industry super funds