Australian baby boomers might have to work longer

Australia's four million baby boomers will have to sell their homes or work longer to have enough savings for retirement, secret Treasury documents have revealed.

The documents, obtained by News Ltd newspapers under Freedom of Information law, found millions of Australians will retire without having been in a fully matured superannuation system for their entire working life.

The government's superannuation guarantee, funded by employers, was introduced in the early 90s and only recently increased to nine per cent.

This means about 4.1 million people born between 1946 and 1961 could miss out on a comfortable retirement.

Ross Claire, a spokesperson for the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, has called on the government to cut taxes on super.

Although the government introduced some positive measures in the recent budget, he said the superannuation guarantee would not be adequate for the retirement of millions of people.

The Treasury analysis also found the generation after the boomers could afford to retire after only 30 years of work with about 65 per cent of their pre-retirement income to live on.

- AAP