The Retirement Sentiment Survey found that 51.79 per cent of SMSF trustees expect their savings will be enough for a comfortable retirement, with 26.78 per cent believing their savings would only provide a modest or basic standard of living.
Among private investors, only 30.65 believed their savings would be enough to retire comfortably, with 51.62 expecting either a modest or basic lifestyle.
The percentage of each group that expected their savings would not be enough to live off was roughly equal, with 17.86 per cent of SMSF trustees and 17.74 per cent of private investors expecting this would be the case.
Interestingly, there were also differences between these two groups in terms of the assets they favoured, the survey found.
More than a third (36.73 per cent) of SMSF trustees expect Australian shares will provide the best returns over the next five years, with international shares and residential property proving the second and third most popular choices respectively, with 28.57 per cent and 14.29 per cent each.
The same three asset classes were tapped by private investors to deliver the best returns, however among this group residential property proved the most popular, accounting for 34.43 per cent of the respondents’ votes.
International shares proved the second most popular with 22.95 per cent of the private investor vote, followed by Australian shares at 18.03 per cent.
The survey also found that SMSF trustees were less likely to seek financial advice from their friends and families than private investors were, with only 10.75 per cent saying they ask those close to them for advice, compared with 37.5 per cent of private investors.
