How much do we need superannuation?

Editor's note

Australia’s superannuation industry, sometimes referred to as “world class”, is breathtakingly poorly run in parts, especially – and last week’s Productivity Commissions report makes this clear – the parts run by the supposed experts, in banks’ financial services firms. Typically bank-run firms perform worse, and as Susan Thorp reminds us this morning, picking an under-performing fund can cost you about 13 years’ pay over a working lifetime; roughly the value of an apartment in Melbourne or Sydney. Many households spend more on superannuation fees than they do on electricity, yet give their statements scarcely a second look. The funds we are put into (“default funds”) are usually the ones we stay in, which is why the Commission has recommended limiting defaults to a list of up to ten – “the best in show” – so we don’t rob ourselves of as much as half a million dollars over our working lives.

But, as important as that proposal is – and some in the government think it doesn’t go far enough and want a single universal government-run default scheme – it misses something vital. Geoff Warren points out that the Commission was prevented from examining the entire architecture of the system; from examining whether we need compulsory super, and how much we need. It’s the sort of thing you would expect ahead of the next scheduled increase in compulsory super, due in June 2021. The Commission has asked for such an examination and Geoff makes the case.

Peter Martin

Editor, Business and Economy

Top story

The Commission found some super funds treat people very badly, but it was prevented from examining the idea of superannuation. Productivity Commission

The Productivity Commission inquiry was just the start. It’s time for a broader review of super and how much it is needed

Geoff Warren, Australian National University

The Productivity Commission was only permitted to examine the efficiency of the super system. A quarter of a century on, it's time to examine the design of the system and who it helps and hurts.

We find it hard to read forms and to understand risk, so we stick with what we know. Shutterstock

Superannuation: why we stick with the duds

Susan Thorp, University of Sydney

Picking an dud superannuation fund can cost you about 13 years’ pay over a working lifetime, roughly the value of an apartment in Melbourne or Sydney.

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