The cold hard facts on super

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By Leith van Onselen

Please find above an interesting short video from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) showing the proportion of people with superannuation by income bracket and age, how much they hold, how much they contributed last year, amongst other things. The information is based on the ATO’s 2010-11 data.

Call me cynical, but after watching the video I couldn’t help but feel that superannuation is mostly for the top ~20% of Australians by income/wealth, given that:

  • the bottom 48% of people with super accounts hold less than $20,000;
  • 21% have balances between $20,001 and $50,000;
  • 14% have balances between $50,001 to $100,000;
  • 10% have balances between $100,001 to $250,000;
  • 4% have balances between $250,001 to $500,000; and
  • 3% have over $500,000 in superannuation.

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.