A survey by industry super fund REST Super has found that the majority of Baby Boomers have not sought financial advice to help them prepare for retirement, despite just 14% believing they were financially prepared for the transition.
According to the super fund’s report, 70% of those aged between 47 and 66 had not sought professional financial advice to help plan for retirement. The research also found that the majority of pre-retirees underestimated the amount required to fund a comfortable retirement.
The main reason respondents gave for not seeking professional advice was because they handled their own financial affairs, or saw no need for the service. But nearly 20% said they did not trust financial advisers, and a similar percentage said they believed financial advice was too expensive.
… many Baby Boomers are worried they won’t have enough money to fund their retirement
“Despite the fact that many Baby Boomers are worried they won’t have enough money to fund their retirement and that they are not prepared, it is surprising that so few are starting the planning process early and seem to be in no rush to get any formal advice to help them on their journey,” said REST Industry Super CEO, Damian Hill.
“This poses a significant education challenge for the financial services sector and government to help these people get ready for retirement. Many super funds including REST provide access to financial advice as a service for members. However, education needs to be targeted and delivered in such a way that all retirees, whatever their retirement plans, understand the importance of early planning and seeking advice for a massive life change that will no doubt impact them significantly both financially and psychologically,” he added.
While the survey did not specifically investigate people’s attitudes towards insurance within superannuation, there were some findings that risk advisers may find interesting:
- 35% of Baby Boomers still had financial dependents, with one-third of those having children under the age of 18
- 47% of respondents said they had existing debt. 10% of those had debts over $300,000.
- When asked to list the items they would be unhappy to give up in retirement, 39% said health insurance, putting it in the top five priorities for retirees
Is it any wonder why? Industry funds have been crying wolf about Financial planners for years. That the public have become disillusioned by the the financial planning process and don’t know who to turn to. The Superannuation Industry funds have a lot to answer for.
Totally agree Rod, the industry funds mainly through the turkeys at the Industry Funds Network have been brainwashing consumers about “advisers who get paid commissions”. So by their propaganda finaced with members money they have succesfully managed to portray advisers as money hungry monsters who you shouldn’t deal with. Well done, now we will have a generation of baby boomers all the poorer for lack of some decent advice.
O I get it . So after pushing the message that advice is expensive and you should save fees by going straight to an industry fund ; Now people like Damian think they can step up to the plate as an authority on advice. A little bit like giving the arsonist a medal for putting out the fire
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