Super or not so super?
Attitudes towards the superannuation system differ depending on your age.
NSA has its say
In our Federal Budget Submission, National Seniors Australia (NSA) has made several recommendations regarding superannuation.
We are calling on Treasury to:
Acknowledge super is money held in trust for everyday Australians, the product of their hard work, and theirs to use however they wish.
Avoid policies that compel or incentivise retirement income products that are not in the best interests of superannuants or open them up to extreme risk.
Focus on developing educational tools to improve superannuants understanding of the retirement phase of superannuation (and not be used to sell or promote inappropriate or excessively risky products).
Develop a performance test for retirement phase products to enable superannuants to easily identify if a product is achieving good (or poor) outcomes to support choice and weed out underperforming products and funds.
You can read our recommendations in full here.
NSA’s Retirement Income and Superannuation Campaign promotes a retirement income system based on principles of adequacy, sustainability, certainty, and fairness. You can read more about it here.
A great divide has emerged between how Australians of different ages understand and engage with their superannuation.
A new study reveals that younger people remain largely disengaged in super – a stark contrast with National Seniors Australia (NSA) research that shows older people demonstrate deep understanding, reliance, and strong support for the system.
According to recent Super Members Council (SMC) research, younger Australians often struggle to connect with super, seeing retirement as distant and abstract.
Nearly half say they don’t understand the basics of super, contributing to limited engagement or action to improve retirement savings.
SMC has launched an education initiative to address this detachment and make superannuation feel tangible for younger members, who are significantly less likely to take active steps such as checking balances, comparing fees, or making additional contributions.
In contrast, joint NSA research highlights a dramatically different picture among older Australians, who interact with the system more frequently and value super as central to their wellbeing in retirement.
According to NSA’s major survey of more than 3,000 Australians aged 50+, 79% said super was “very important” to their retirement planning, with another 15% calling it “somewhat important”.
NSA’s findings also show that three in four older Australians (76%) believe they would not have saved as much without compulsory super – underscoring how the system has been essential to their financial security. Many reported that super provides peace of mind and a buffer against the uncertainties of ageing, including the financial risks associated with longevity, medical and health expenses, and the potential need for care.
In addition to valuing their own super, older Australians overwhelmingly endorse the foundational principles underpinning the system – principles that escape many younger Australians.
NSA research shows overwhelming support for:
Universality – 97% agree every worker should get super
Compulsion – 96% support mandated employer contributions
Preservation – 89% support keeping super locked away for retirement
Concessional taxation – 94% agree contributions should be lightly taxed.
This strong alignment with system principles demonstrates not only engagement, but a sophisticated understanding built over decades of interacting with superannuation.
Meanwhile, SMC’s findings on younger Australians show limited interaction with their accounts and a lack of foundational understanding.
Education is a significant driver of engagement. Once younger Australians understand how super works, they are up to six times more likely to take positive action such as checking investments or making extra contributions. But without that understanding, the system remains largely invisible to them.
Together, these two sets of findings paint a clear picture. Younger Australians are disconnected from super at the very stage when early action would have the biggest long‑term impact.
Older Australians, on the other hand, not only engage with super but place enormous trust in it, rely on it, and strongly support the principles that underpin its success.
The contrast reinforces why initiatives like SMC’s are essential: to help younger Australians one day enjoy the same confidence, security, and peace of mind that older Australians now attribute to the superannuation system.
SMC’s Ask You Golden Super Goose superannuation education site is here.
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