SCA has raised alarms over the poor advice stemming from these calculators, despite super funds pledging to assist their members in financial planning. Their findings spotlight a pressing need for reform in the guidance provided.
Xavier O’Halloran and Katrina Ellis of SCA delve deeper into the issue in the inaugural edition of Retirement Magazine. They argue that while super funds carry some responsibility, the onus lies on the government to fix the convoluted retirement system.
Among the recommended solutions is a unified government-run platform that consolidates existing resources to better serve Australians with their retirement planning. Instead of waiting on incremental and uncertain improvements from the funds, the government can take a more proactive role.
"Picture an enhanced platform like ASIC's Moneysmart," O’Halloran and Ellis suggest. "It's already trusted by millions and represents a solid foundation for a centralised retirement planning tool." At the most recent Retirement Conference—a collaboration between Conexus Financial and The Conexus Institute—ASIC reported that Moneysmart's super and retirement sections attracted over two million users.
Digital retirement calculators present an alluring solution for those unable to afford professional financial advice. However, SCA’s scrutiny reveals that only half of the top 50 super funds offer public calculators, with some redirecting users to ASIC's already available calculator. Ominously, 77% of these tools utilized a standardized model, making baseless assumptions that yield misguided advice.
Examples highlighted include income projections being either excessively high, risking depletion before the user's lifespan ends, or unrealistically low, leaving individuals with substantial unused funds at 100 years of age. Such discrepancies, described by O’Halloran and Ellis as "dud guidance," scarcely align with super funds' intended purposes, save for potentially benefiting heirs or rare centenarians.
The calculations fail notably in customizing for individual circumstances, which are pivotal in determining realistic retirement needs. Variations such as homeownership versus renting directly impact financial requirements in retirement.
"Personal situations significantly affect saving capacities and expenditure during retirement," SCA points out. Nonetheless, a startling 73% of the tools did not inquire about mortgages, a critical omission considering housing expenditure is a significant part of retirement planning.
Additionally, calculators overlook other crucial variables such as health care needs and life expectancy differences. O’Halloran and Ellis stress that these tools' inadequacies demonstrate a "concerning" and "generalized" approach to what should be highly tailored financial planning for retirement.
