INTERESTING information has just been released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showing that more Australians are now living from their superannuation investments than those receiving a pension from the government.
This is a really productive situation.
Some of the praise must go to ex-Prime Minister Paul Keating, who introduced incentives to have Australian taxpayers save for their retirement rather than expect the government to fund them in their post-work life.
It also provides a reason why Prime Minister Albanese was quick to reject Treasurer Chalmers’ recent plan to increase taxation on many retirees’ superannuation savings.
With more people successfully putting assets aside in order to fund their retirement years, it became an unacceptable risk politically to offend many older or conservative voters who did the right thing by working with the government incentives to increase their retirement savings.
By doing so, they have saved the government from future expenditure providing pensions for them.
The ABS report showed that 35 percent of retired men aged 45 years and over relied on their superannuation to fund their living expenses in FY25, which was up from 33 percent in FY23.
The data showed that 42 percent of retired men relied on the pension as their main form of income which was substantially down from 47 percent in FY23.
Retired women aged 45 and over were also increasingly relying on superannuation to fund their so-called golden years, up from 21 percent in FY23.
The pension was the main source of income for 41 percent of retired women in FY25, being the same level set in FY23.
The report went on to say that retirees who increasingly are relying on superannuation as their main source of income increased from 20 percent to 28 percent over the same period.
When demonstrating the income pay gap between men and women, the report said retired women are much more financially reliant on their male partners during retirement.
The numbers said 30 percent of retired women relied on their partner’s income to fund their living expenses, whilst only nine percent of retired men’s incomes were dependent on their partner’s superannuation.
By John BLACKBOURN
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