Voluntary super top-ups fall in Australia

BRISBANE - Australian workers back compulsory super, but tight economic times mean some no longer want to top it up from their own pockets.

A Newspoll survey released yesterday at a superannuation conference on Queensland's Gold Coast, revealed 37 per cent of those making voluntary superannuation contributions would stop doing so.

Fiona Reynolds of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees said there were several reasons voluntary top-ups were slowing.

People who indicated they would stop the payments included those who had lost jobs, some who were making extra mortgage repayments while interest rates were low and those who had reacted to negative growth in superannuation funds.

"For the major superannuation funds, it won't have too much of an impact in that they have very strong compulsory superannuation flows," Reynolds said.

"Some of the big funds have A$100 million [$123.6 million] that comes in every month in investible money."

Smaller funds could have difficulty managing cash flow but should not face liquidity problems, Reynolds said.

The survey also showed that 81 per cent of 1000 respondents thought superannuation was a good way to invest.

"There just seems to be a high level of awareness about what is happening out there in markets, how it affects superannuation, much higher that I expected there to be."

- AAP