More women, young people seek super advice

Industry superannuation fund, Vision Super, has seen a 31 per cent increase in the number of women seeking advice, along with a 27 per cent increase in the number of people under 30 seeking advice in the six months to October 2016.

Vision Super chief executive, Stephen Rowe, said with women retiring with only 60 per cent of the super that men did, and with one-in-three women retiring with no super at all, seeking advice was vital to help narrow the super gender gap.

"More women are benefitting from basic advice that all members can do to significantly improve their retirement prospects, as well as advice on more complex financial arrangements," Rowe said.

"This might include taxation, retirement income, and the Age Pension asset test."

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Rowe also said it was vital for younger members to understand the benefits of consolidating super, choosing higher yielding investment options that came with additional risk or making additional contributions while they were young, particularly with uncertainty surrounding the superannuation guarantee.

"If a member in their 20s or 30s made these few simple changes to their super, it would make a staggering difference - up to hundreds of thousands of dollars more - in retirement," Rowe said.