Financial advisers are taking a back seat to newspapers and online media when it comes to financial decision-making.
This is one of the many findings stemming from CoreData’s Super and Retirement 2010 Report.
While the Report credits the Global Financial Crisis with creating a greater awareness of superannuation issues amongst consumers, CoreData Analyst, Kristen Paech, noted at the same time that the report highlighted the challenge the advice industry faces in convincing people of the value of seeking advice:
… consumers are still more likely to turn to the media for information than to professional advisers
“Despite a concerted effort to articulate this value, consumers are still more likely to turn to the media for information than to professional advisers when making financial decisions,” said Ms Paech.
While the major focus of the Report, which is based on the responses of 4,000 Australians, focusses on superannuation and retirement, there are a number of findings that may create an argument for the increased importance and value of life insurance and income protection cover in future.
For example, the Report revealed that two thirds of survey respondents expect to continue working either part-time or full time when they reach retirement age in order to maintain a desired lifestyle. If this is the case, protecting that income stream later in life is of vital importance.
Other findings included:
- The ability to support lifestyle in retirement is the number one financial goal of respondents (55%), followed by travel (49%), growing investments (41%), minimising tax (41%), paying off a home mortgage (40%) and protecting assets (36%)
- Males are more likely than females to have life insurance plus other insurance through their super fund
- More females (29%) hold the minimum level of insurance cover than males (20%)
- Males tend to have a higher level of cover than females, with almost ten times more males than females holding more than $1 million cover
According to Ms Paech, the Report outcomes show that that as life expectancy increases, Australians are beginning to acknowledge the need to continue working later in life to fund the lifestyle they have always dreamed of having.
“Unfortunately, for most people it is now unrealistic to expect to retire at 60. The majority of Australians expect to have to work in some capacity beyond that age in order to finance their desired lifestyle,” said Ms Paech.
