In the 2015-2016 year, the gender superannuation gap meant, women on average, had 61.2 percent of the of the average superannuation balance for men (1).  This gender superannuation gap needs to close. 

And one way to do this is to create a “couples” joint superannuation account.

Current “Couples” Money Sharing Status

Recent research by Finder has found that 51 per cent Baby Boomer couples pool the family finances and hold their savings in a joint bank account.    And the family’s largest asset, the family home is generally held in both partners names.

So, when it comes time to access superannuation, do you think that will change? 

Can you imagine the person with the lower superannuation (unfortunately generally the woman), agreeing to live of their own superannuation!  The chances of that happening for many couples would be very slim. 

And the pension payment is based on your marital status.  A married couple have no choice but to share the pension.  Nor do they get double the pension of a single person, because there is recognition of shared living expenses. 

We need to give the over 9 million married people in Australia, the option to pool their superannuation

If a high proportion of married couples pool their finances, why don’t we build a superannuation system that caters for this. 

To do this, we need to create joint spousal superannuation accounts where each partner has a 50 / 50 share of the balance.  Couples then have the option to place their superannuation in these joint superannuation accounts, just like they have the option with the rest of their finances.

The benefits of providing the option of a joint spousal superannuation account

The benefits include:

• Projected retirement outcomes become more accurate as they can use the combined superannuation balances to project a combined balance and combined potential income stream at retirement. Which is what most couples want.  They don’t want to have to work this out from the separate superannuation plans.
• Engagement with super will increase. With a joint spousal superannuation account, the chief financial officer of the family would be engaged for both partners.  Under the current environment, one partner may not be engaged with their superannuation.
• Closing the gender superannuation gap for that couple as they share the balance 50 / 50.
• A reduction in the number of superannuation accounts saving costs for both the superannuation provider and the couple.

(1)  The Association of Superannuation Funds Australia (ASFA), Superannuation Account Balances by Age and Gender. October 2017

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