Retirement Wealth Decisions in Australia 's Superannuation System: Part 1, Accumulation

Abstract

This is the first in a series of three papers examining retirement wealth decisions in Australia 's superannuation system. The work seeks to introduce a holistic approach to examining decision making across the key stages of retirement wealth provision, namely: accumulation; conversion; and, decumulation. The central idea considered in this study relates to the final superannuation benefit achieved during the accumulation phase. Using a sample of 245 Australians over the age of 45, we consider three areas, under the following sub-headings: attitudinal (budget; funding priority; and, adequacy); financial market (estate planning; and, financial advice); and, demographic factors (gender; retirement status; household income; employment status; and, accumulation contribution type) and their respective impacts on accumulated balance.