Australians expect 10-year shortfall in retirement savings

The average Australian expects superannuation to make up only 20 per cent of their retirement savings, according to HSBC's Future of Retirement survey.

Australians' high reliance on the pension was less than those from other markets like the US, UK, France and Canada, where the average respondent expects 38 per cent of their retirement savings to come from pension plans.

Australians had a higher expectation for reliance on super and property investments than other developed markets that focused on company pensions, it said.

It found Australians expect 30 per cent of their retirement savings to come from the age pension, 20 per cent from super, 14 per cent from cash savings, 11 per cent from property and 8 per cent from shares and investments.

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HSBC found that Australians expect their savings to last 11 out of 21 years, even though they plan to reduce living expenses by a third.

Inadequate planning, a preference for short-term saving and an underestimation of retirement costs is behind a 10-year shortfall in Australians' retirement savings, HSBC said.

Nearly 60 per cent admitted they were either inadequately planning for retirement or not preparing at all.

Over half had never saved specifically for their retirement outside of super, and 47 per cent of them said the high cost of living was preventing them from building up their retirement nest egg.

Australians had the lowest expectations of retirement income and said on average they would need just 66 per cent of their working life income to be comfortable in retirement.

Over half of respondents prioritised short-term savings goals over retirement — the second highest proportion among all countries surveyed, according to the survey.

Australians aged 45-54 recorded lower superannuation expectations and said they expected 45 per cent of their income to be from the pension, while those in the 25-34 age bracket expected 19 per cent of retirement income to come from the pension.

Australians who sought informal financial planning advice expected to increase their savings four-fold, while those who sought professional planning advice increased their retirement savings five-fold.