Deferred lifetime annuities must be placed high on the new Government’s agenda if it wants to lessen the impact of longevity risk, the Actuaries Institute believes.
In a pre-Budget submission, the professional body called on the Federal Government to open the door for product innovation by removing barriers in the longevity risk space.
“The current limited range of income products that pool longevity risk, including the unavailability of pure longevity protection in the form of a deferred lifetime annuity (DLA) and other guaranteed retirement income products, is a major consumer issue for the growing number of baby boomers who are retiring each year,” the submission said.
It also called for the Government to incentivise income stream superannuation products to reduce the likelihood of retirees running out of lump sum super and using the pension as a fallback.
“In particular, retirees should be incentivised to protect themselves against their own longevity,” it said.
As a further measure, the institute said the pension age should be further lifted in line with rises in life expectancy.
In addition, legislative barriers preventing older Australians from staying in the workforce should be removed, it said.
The profit-to-member super fund’s MySuper default option has returned 9.85 per cent for the financial year 2024–25.
Colonial First State (CFS) has announced solid double-digit returns for its MySuper balanced and growth equivalent funds during the financial year.
The super fund’s Future Saver High Growth option delivered an 11.9 per cent return for the financial year 2024–25, on the back of a diversified portfolio and actively managed investment strategy.
HESTA has delivered a 10.18 per cent return for its MySuper Balanced Growth option in the 2024–25 financial year, marking the third consecutive year of returns above 9 per cent for the $80 billion industry fund’s default investment strategy.