Challenger has launched a new platform, the Institute for Lifetime Income, aimed at providing advocacy, insights and research on the retirement of Australians.
The institute has been designed to bring together evidence-based research and industry experts to assist all Australians to improve their understanding of retirement income.
“Challenger has been a leading contributor for many years with research, white papers and policy ideas about retirement in Australia. The launch of the institute is the next step in bringing our experience and insight together to drive our next era of advocacy,” Challenger retirement principal advocate Mandy Mannix said.
The platform provides easy access to research such as the Challenger Retirement Happiness Index, explanations of retirement products such as annuities, and articles on the psychology behind retirement decisions.
“It’s a pivotal moment as we reach a demographic inflection point with a record number of people retiring every year – a population equivalent to the city of Wollongong. With longer life expectancies, it is not uncommon for people to now have more than 30 years in retirement and it’s only going to increase,” Mannix noted.
The Challenger Retirement Happiness Index has found the happiest retirees are usually healthy and confident about their financial situation. The launch of the institute is therefore intended to help more people find confidence in wealth and happiness in retirement.
“Australia is well placed to lead globally in retirement income because we’ve already built one of the world’s most mature retirement savings systems. The next stage is ensuring people have the knowledge, confidence and support to make the most of those savings throughout retirement,” Mannix explained.
According to the financial services firm, the institute formalised work it had been undertaking in the retirement income space for decades and that better retirement outcomes would not come from one organisation acting alone. Rather, a solution needed collaborative informed decisions from both industry and government.
