Australians are paying up to three times more than they should for superannuation. Excessively high fees are seriously damaging their retirement balances and hurting taxpayers, who pay more for pensions when superannuation runs short. Reducing fees by half could save account holders $10 billion a year. It is the largest single opportunity for micro-economic reform in the Australian economy.
Australians on average pay fees of 1.2 per cent on their superannuation account balances, more than three times the median OECD rate.
On conservative assumptions that means a 50-year old Australian today will have his or her super balance reduced by almost $80,000 in fees (in today?s dollars) at retirement. A 30-year old will lose more than $250,000, or about a quarter of his or her total balance. Under a fairer fee structure, at least half that money could be saved.
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