Retirement
‘Not paying attention’ costing Aussies $4bn
Overwhelmed and disengaged Australians are wasting billions of dollars a year by simply not paying attention to their spending habits, a CEO has flagged.
‘Not paying attention’ costing Aussies $4bn
Overwhelmed and disengaged Australians are wasting billions of dollars a year by simply not paying attention to their spending habits, a CEO has flagged.
Rest Superannuation has examined the avoidable costs that are hitting Australians’ back pockets, and discovered that as a nation, we are pouring $3.9 billion down the drain through unused apps, services and memberships.
In a conversation with nestegg, Rest CEO Vicki Doyle said simple engagement with monthly statements can help Australians get back on track.
“Three in five Aussies are paying for services they don’t use anymore,” she flagged.
On average, it’s three monthly subscriptions costing nearly $40 a month.
“If you could sit down and grab your bank statement [and] cancel those subscriptions, it’s $500 a year and nearly $6,000 over 10 years,” she calculated.
“It’s a lot of money that could easily be saved into your own bank or superannuation account,” Ms Doyle noted.
Another issue unveiled by Rest that is costing money is the “time-poor nature” of Australians, which results in the putting of finances on the backburner.
“We know that people are time-poor and have to juggle an enormous number of commitments,” Ms Doyle said.
Rest’s research showed that four in five Australians avoid taking action on their finances “because they’re too busy, it takes too long, or they don’t know where to start,” according to the CEO.
Ms Doyle is advocating for finance to be taught in schools as a way to help Australians better understand the importance of financial literacy before entering full-time employment.
“Financial literacy is challenging and quite complicated,” she said.
“I fundamentally support that in schools we should be learning the basics of finances instead of some other topics we might not use” to better prepare for the future, Ms Doyle concluded.
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