Nearly three quarters of Australian workers (72%) don’t know that the current superannuation guarantee rate is 9.5%, according to the recently released 2016 Australian Employee Insights Report, commissioned by Sunsuper and conducted by Galaxy Research. The survey interviewed more than 1000 Australian employees aged between 18 and 69, and who worked in businesses with at least 20 staff.

Whilst the report found that getting paid higher super contributions was one of the highest rated benefits that companies could offer their employees (43%), less than one in five employees (18%) say they currently receive this as a corporate benefit. The results are worrying, especially when you consider employer contributions are the main way most Australians save for their retirement.

The report also highlighted that a third of Australians are unsure about what age they can access their superannuation and the same percentage are unsure whether they will have enough super when retiring. Despite this uncertainty, having enough money to fund retirement was considered the top financial dream for Generation X and Baby Boomer participants in the survey. For Gen Y, the top financial dream was having money to buy their first home.

Unsurprisingly Australians’ most common dream for retirement is to travel overseas (58%). If money was not an object one in six Australians would retire at 40 and the report also highlighted 19% of Australians want to “grow old disgracefully”. Paradoxically more than one in five (21%) say retirement makes them feel scared or sad.

Interestingly, whilst almost half (49%) of Australians would go to their employer when looking for information about their super, the report also found that while less than half of Australians (46%) always trust their immediate manager, less than a quarter (24%) always trust senior management.

If you know someone who would benefit from engaging a trusted adviser to help them understand their current position and what is needed to achieve their financial goals, contact an InterPrac Financial Adviser through InterPrac Financial Planning on 1800 700 666.