The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) Moneysmart Retirement Planner has proven to be very popular among consumers in the six months since its launch.
The calculator registered 162,339 unique users in the period between 24 November and 24 May and the regulator regards this as a demonstration many Australians are actively seeking support to remove uncertainty in their retirement.
This data is more significant given Moneysmart research showed 48 per cent of Australians aged 50 to 66 are worried they will run out of money in retirement and 32 per cent feel they are already behind in their retirement plans.
Analysis of 23,000 user engagements with the facility revealed 85 per cent of people who reached the lifestyle goals section of the planner indicated a holiday was their retirement objective. It was far and away the most popular retirement aspiration, with buying a new car listed next, 33 per cent, hobbies, 19 per cent, and renovations, 15 per cent.
A further 9 per cent of respondents named paying down debt as their retirement goal and another 10 per cent selected giving gifts as their aim.
A breakdown of the demographics of user engagements reveals some other noticeable trends. To this end, younger users, those between 18 and 24, were the most likely to focus on planning for hobbies in retirement, while the next generation, aged 25 to 24, saw holidays as a priority for themselves.
Individuals aged between 55 to 64 admitted buying a new car, renovating their home or paying down debt in retirement are goals they wanted to achieve most.
In addition, the assessment revealed buying gifts was most important in retirement for people aged 65 and over.
“The Moneysmart Retirement Planner draws together complex information in plain English, helping people understand their position and make informed decisions about retirement, whether they are decades away or already preparing to stop work,” ASIC stated.
