Short-term savings trump superannuation concerns

A new AustralianSuper survey has shown that although the majority of people are aware of their short-term savings balance, 43 per cent don't know how much they have in retirement savings.

The survey showed that short-term savings still occupy people's minds: 91 per cent of people knew their savings balance, while 45 per cent were saving for a holiday. Only 10 per cent plan to consolidate or sort out their super.

AustralianSuper general manager of marketing and communications James Coyle said Australians were focused when it came to short-term savings but needed to realise both accounts held their hard-earned money.

"When you break it down, there's no difference between the money in your super fund and your savings account; it's your money, you earned it," he said.

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Coyle pointed out that if people did not know their balance, they were probably in the dark about what fees they pay and what type of lifestyle their super savings will afford.

The survey found that half of 25-34 year olds did not know their balance. Coyle said it was a worry as they were likely to have had numerous jobs and it was likely they represented some of the 2.5 million Australians with multiple super accounts.

Women were less likely to know what they had in super than men - 52 per cent of women knew their balance compared to 63 per cent of men.

Facebook also received more attention than super account balances, with almost half of respondents reporting that they knew how many Facebook friends they had.

Members in the youngest demographic were least likely to know their super account balance - only 36 per cent of 18-24 year-olds knew how much super they had, while over 25 per cent had never checked their balance.