{"id":105516,"date":"2025-08-23T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/?p=105516"},"modified":"2025-08-23T08:31:26","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T22:31:26","slug":"186876-superannuation-shortfall-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/186876-superannuation-shortfall-warning\/","title":{"rendered":"$186,876 Superannuation Shortfall Warning as Thousands of Aussies Stick With Default Funds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A significant proportion of Australians are potentially missing out on tens of thousands of dollars in retirement savings<\/strong> by remaining with underperforming superannuation funds. New findings reveal that more than 30%<\/strong> of people have never switched funds since entering the workforce, despite available tools to compare performance and fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study has reignited calls for Australians to take greater control of their superannuation<\/strong>, with experts warning that passive financial behaviour may result in reduced returns and unnecessary fees over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Millions Sticking With Default Superannuation Funds From First Jobs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to recent data from Finder<\/em>, 32% of Australians are still using the default superannuation <\/a>fund<\/strong> assigned by their first employer. A further 26% are with the default fund of their current employer. Only 41% have actively chosen their current fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although default funds are legally required to meet minimum performance standards, the disparity between the top and bottom performers remains considerable. Yahoo Finance<\/em> reports that a comparison of 54 super funds<\/strong> showed 10-year net returns ranging from 5.55% to 7.66% per annum, with associated annual fees varying from $671 to $1,121. Over time, these differences can significantly affect retirement balances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finder<\/em> calculated that increasing the average return on a $100,000 super balance from 6% to 7% could grow the fund by $186,876 over 30 years\u2014without any additional contributions. The organisation dubbed this lost growth the \u201clazy tax<\/strong>\u201d, highlighting the cost of inaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReview your super fund performance regularly. Put very simply, performance should be high, and fees should be low,\u201d said Pascale Helyar-Moray<\/a>, Finder\u2019s<\/em> superannuation literacy expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lack of Engagement Spreads Beyond Super to Other Recurring Costs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The issue of passive financial management is not limited to retirement savings<\/a>. A separate Finder<\/em> report showed Australians spent an estimated $4.5 billion extra in 2023<\/strong> by failing to switch providers for essential services such as electricity, internet and mobile phones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dubbed the \u201cloyalty tax<\/strong>\u201d, this overspending equated to around $331 per person. Some energy providers, for instance, are offering up to $150 in credit or thousands of Qantas points to attract new customers, according to Finder<\/em>\u2019s tech and utilities expert, Mariam Gabaji.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, data from Westpac<\/em> revealed that 30% of Australians lose up to $600 annually due to forgotten or duplicate subscriptions<\/strong>. Common reasons included missing cancellation deadlines after free trials (38%), forgetting about active subscriptions (32%), and difficulty cancelling them (31%). These trends reflect a broader need for Australians to be more proactive with recurring financial decisions, particularly those that compound over time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many Australians remain with the same superannuation fund they were assigned in their first job\u2014often without question. New research suggests this passive approach could lead to significant long-term financial losses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":105518,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105516"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105519,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105516\/revisions\/105519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}