Millions who accessed the COVID early release super scheme, and don’t top up their savings, will be more reliant on the pension and still have less income in their golden years, according to the Grattan Institute.
This prospect creates a generational rift between those just getting by on the meagre aged pension against their children lumped with paying for their parents’ retirements.
The think-tank’s retirement modellers have confirmed that of the 2.9 million Australians who have accessed their super early – the lowest income earners will be hit hardest. The bottom 20 per cent of wage earners will lose $3000 a year in retirement and have little or no change in their age pension entitlement because they are already on the full rate.
The bleak outcome is still evident despite Grattan’s retirement income modelers relying on some highly questionable assumptions about the adequacy of retirement incomes before COVID-19.
