Aussies under pressure amid advice barriers

Yasmine Raso

Senior Journalist, Financial Newswire

2 December 2022

Australians are feeling more financial stress than ever as cost of living expenses rise despite barriers to receiving financial advice remaining, according to a new survey of Australian adults with super commissioned by Australian Retirement Trust (ART).

The survey results said 85 per cent of respondents are worried about the effects of economic events on household budgets, 48 per cent are financially stressed at least once a week, 70 per cent believe financial advice could improve their wellbeing and only 32 per cent currently receive financial advice.

Despite this, 96 per cent of respondents who said they had never sought financial advice believe there are barriers to accessing it, with 57 per cent highlighting cost as a main factor.

“It’s good for people to be thinking about their finances – but not if it is causing stress and worry at such a high rate. That’s something that, as an industry, we should be helping to solve,” ART’s Head of Advice, Anne Fuchs, said.

“As the survey shows, Australians know financial advice can make a difference to their wellbeing, and they want to access it. But if the vast majority face barriers, it signals that there is a problem with the system. Advice isn’t just for the wealthy, it can improve financial outcomes no matter what you earn, and everyone should have the opportunity to access it.

“Difficult economic times aren’t going away – we have seen seven interest rate rises in a row, with many economists forecasting more to come. Australians shouldn’t be left to manage that stress on their own and financial advice can help ease that worry.

“Financial advice should be easy to get and easy to understand – as one of the largest super funds in the country we can help make that possible, but we need the regulatory environment to enable that.”

While 61 per cent of survey respondents said advice could assist them in “navigating the impact of recent economic events”, 39 per cent of those that have not sought advice feel they do not have enough assets to justify receiving it and 36 per cent said they do not know who to trust.

the federal government’s Quality of Advice review will help simplify the regulatory framework to better enable high quality, accessible and affordable financial advice.

“We need to break down the barriers Australians face in getting financial advice, so we support the Quality of Advice Review. It’s challenging the industry to think differently about how advice can be delivered by super funds,” ART chief executive, Bernard Reilly, said.

“The millions of people retiring over the next decade will need support. As one of the largest super funds in the country, we have the scale and capability to make that support more accessible, meaning more Australians will live their best retirement.”