How much superannuation has boosted your savings this year

A booming superannuation sector has given older Australians a huge pre-retirement boost. See how your age group fared.

A record-breaking sharemarket has delivered a $10,000-plus superannuation boost for many Australians aged over 40, and almost twice that for over-50s.

However, younger people are missing out on windfall gains because of their lower super balances and the fact many withdrew much of their life savings in last year’s Covid-19 early release scheme.

Women, too, are less likely to enjoy the full benefits of booming super fund returns because of the ongoing gender gap between balances.

Default super investment options grew 18 per cent in the 2020-21 financial year and are up about 10 per cent since January 1, according to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) and research group Chant West.

Many people don’t realise how much their super has grown since 2020, financial advisers say.

ASFA deputy CEO Glen McCrea said super’s strong recent run reflected “significant growth” in stockmarkets in Australia and overseas, buoyed by record low interest rates and government stimulus measures to combat Covid.

Australian and overseas shares comprise 50 per cent of super funds’ average asset holdings, and both reached record highs in July and again in August.

Mr McCrea said $10,000-plus investment gains for super fund members aged over 40 reflected their bigger balances built from years of saving and “demonstrates the wonders of compounding”.

People aged 55 to 64 have average super balances near $247,000 and many have enjoyed investment gains this year of almost $25,000, but the rises for under-35s are typically less than $4000.

“One million people have less than $1000 in super and they’re predominantly people who took money out through the early release scheme,” Mr McCrea said. Their timing couldn’t have been worse – withdrawing cash as shares plunged 37 per cent and then missing out on the rebound.

“We still do have a gender gap in super – part of that is wage rates, but also taking time out of the workforce,” Mr McCrea said.

Separate research from Industry Super Australia has found women are retiring with 25 per cent less super than men, with the gender super gap to continue for another 40 years.

Older Australians have been grabbing a bigger slice of the $3.1 trillion superannuation cake.

Industry Super Australia advocacy director Georgia Brumby said Prime Minister Scott Morrison should “stop ignoring the gender super gap” and start paying super on parental leave.

“Unless we take action now, whole generations of women are going to retire with too little savings,” she said.

CreationWealth senior financial adviser Andrew Zbik said many people had no idea how much their super had climbed, and warned the current strength could not last forever.

“Logic tells you it can’t just keep rallying,” he said.

“But we have got this global phenomenon where governments are going into debt to strengthen economies hit by Covid.”

Chant West senior investment research manager Mano Mohankumar said super returns since March 2020 totalled more than 27 per cent, despite the pandemic’s disruptions.

“Not only have we recovered all the losses incurred in the early Covid period, but we’re now sitting about 12 per cent above the pre-Covid crisis high,” he said.

Originally published as How much superannuation has boosted your savings this year