Living with risk: Retired couples’ experiences of a financialised retirement income system

Abstract

AbstractThis paper presents new data on the nature and consequences of the risks for retirees inherent in the Australian retirement income system. This system can be regarded as ‘financialised’ in that retirement savings are primarily managed by non-government financial institutions and, although the Age Pension remains as a safety net, responsibility for the provision and management of retirement incomes has increasingly shifted to individuals. In this article we report the results of a qualitative study of older mixed-sex couple households’ experiences of this system and discuss the implications for retirement incomes policy. We conclude that while the system of government-mandated employer superannuation contributions (the Superannuation Guarantee) is undoubtedly raising the living standard of many older Australians, the financialised nature of the retirement income system, as a whole, poses significant financial risks for many retirees.