Pre-Budget poll sees heightened client interest in super, aged care

An adviser survey conducted by Viridian Advisory in the lead-up to the 2025-26 Federal Budget announcement tomorrow night has unearthed a plethora of client concerns revolving around cost of living, superannuation and aged care.

The poll found that 82 per cent of advisers said their clients were most interested in changes being made to superannuation, particularly the expected updates to the Division 296 tax first introduced by the government last year which would impose an additional tax on balances above $3 million.

This comes despite clients indicating they felt neither “optimistic nor pessimistic” towards tomorrow’s Federal Budget.

Similarly, the survey revealed that aged care and cost of living pressures on housing and household budgets were also top of mind for clients. The remaining queries revolved around ongoing market volatility and its ripple effects on the Australian market, as a result of Donald Trump’s second term as US President, the introduction of tariffs, interest rate pressures and high debt levels.

Over 96 per cent of the advisers surveyed also indicated they would remain “stable” in their asset allocation and portfolio decisions post-Budget.

“While we do not expect any significant impact on client portfolios from the upcoming Federal Budget, we hope to see concrete commitments emerging from the Budget that address client concerns which also includes childcare, education and Medicare,” Brett Arnol, Co-Founder and General Manager of Advice at Viridian, said.