Of those using a financial planner, 35% felt ‘very or fairly well prepared’ according to a white paper from MLC, the wealth management division of National Australia Bank.
This compares with 23% of those using an accountant and only 9% of those using no financial professional at all.
According to the paper, the knowledge gained from working with a financial professional made a significant difference to how prepared participants felt when it came to self-funding their retirement.
The super
The research findings also found that only 54% believe that their superannuation fund will be enough to see them through their retirement.
However, those with financial planners/advisers (76%) and those with accountants (63%) were much more likely to agree that they would be able to rely on their ‘super’ in retirement.
Despite the increasing awareness of the importance of the super, it is still not a priority for most Australians.
If gifted A$50,000 (£29,144, $38,122, €33,656), most would spend their money on other things, such as their mortgage, before topping up with retirement fund.
On average, people would add A$3,705 of the A$50,000 gift to their pension.
However, those with financial planners would add A$6,798 (83% more), while those using other financial professionals would add A$4,564, a top up of 23%.
Those using no financial professionals at all would add around a quarter less, at A$2,795.
