Financial advice boosts retirement savings nearly million
New projections from UniSuper Advice reveal a substantial difference in retirement wealth between individuals who seek continuous financial guidance and those who do not. The analysis followed three fictional women, Anita, who consistently followed advice; Nina, who made decisions independently; and Sally, who received guidance at critical points, from age 25 until 100, with retirement assumed at 66.
All three were assumed to be single homeowners with no external assets beyond their superannuation, living until 100. The findings estimated that Anita would accumulate $970,000 more in her super balance at retirement compared to Nina. The model also projected that Anita would have $1.19 million more to spend over retirement than Nina. Sally’s situation, receiving advice at key decision points, was contrasted with Nina’s to assess individual financial choices.
UniSuper identified six key decisions influencing retirement outcomes, including selecting suitable investment strategies, maintaining investments during market downturns, and optimizing fees. The model suggested that proper asset allocation could increase retirement savings by $340,000, while staying invested following a market decline would add $510,000. Reducing annual fees by 0.3 percentage points contributed an extra $180,000, and increasing annual contributions by $1,000 generated an additional $190,000.
For Sally, life-stage-specific advice was projected to provide an extra $50,000 annually during her “carefree years” (ages 66–79).
A separate UniSuper report, Retire with Purpose, found that 48 per cent of pre-retirees had never received professional financial advice. It reported that 29 per cent of those who had never received advice felt financially prepared for retirement, compared with 58 per cent of those who had. Advised pre-retirees were also more likely to say they were excited about the next phase of life, at 82 per cent compared with 63 per cent of those without advice.
Those without advice were most likely to worry about being unable to support themselves financially, at 23 per cent, or not having enough money to retire, at 22 per cent. Among those who had received advice, 25 per cent were concerned about deteriorating health and becoming a burden on loved ones. The study clarified that projections were hypothetical, based on long-term averages rather than real-world performance, and excluded government pension entitlements while using nominal dollar values.
UniSuper emphasized that past returns do not guarantee future outcomes, stressing the illustrative nature of the findings.
