Women the ‘super losers’

New research has found that women have an average super balance of $92,000 at retirement – that’s 40% less than the average male retiree, with $154,000. The new figures, from Roy Morgan Research, fall short of ASFA’s recommended super standards ($22,539 a year for a modest lifestyle, $41,090 for a comfortable one).

"Yet to generate this $40,000 per annum in retirement for a comfortable lifestyle, most women will need to have around $500,000 in retirement savings (today’s dollars)," ING Direct chief operating officer Anne Myers told RateCity.

The research shows the gap between genders starts to form in the 30-34 age range. The decline in balances for women also starts earlier than for men, suggesting that women are retiring earlier and are beginning to draw down their funds at a younger age than men.

This problem is further exacerbated by the current gender gap in superannuation knowledge, engagement and attitudes, as revealed in the Suncorp-ASFA Super Attitudes Survey 2012.

The Suncorp survey revealed that taking just two years out of the workforce to have children can leave women up to $50,000 worse off in retirement.

Suncorp calculated the ‘super baby debt’ for women who take two years out of the workforce, based on salary:

$65,000 salary = $28,000 super baby debt

$85,000 salary = $36,500 super baby debt

$115,000 salary = $50,000 super baby debt

Researchers at Suncorp Life found that to make up the "baby deficit", women needed to make an additional 1% super contribution for every two years out of the workforce, for the rest of their working life.

The government has also tried to address the problem by increasing the superannuation guarantee from 9% to 12% by the 2019/2020 budget year and to provide a lower cost option through the introduction of “My Super”.

Source:

WP

Wealth Professional

Have a great weekend,

From the team at IPS