Women, baby boomers, and low income households have been the big winners of the Government's retirement savings booster – the superannuation co-contribution scheme.
Around $309 million has been injected into the superannuation accounts of 571,000 individuals so far according to the latest data provided by the Australian Taxation Office.
"The co-contribution scheme has been an enormous success for low and middle income Australians who are taking advantage of the opportunity to supersize their retirement savings," Federal Assistant Treasurer Mal Brough said today.
These co-contribution payments were made in respect of personal superannuation contributions made during the 2003/04 financial year, when the Government matched dollar for dollar personal superannuation contributions up to a maximum of $1,000 for those on incomes up to $28,000. The co-contribution phased out completely when a person earned $40,000.
Women are making the most of the chance to improve their retirement balances:
- 63 % of beneficiaries who received a co-contribution were female with the average payment worth approximately $570. 37% of beneficiaries were males with an average value of around $495. Improving women's retirement savings is a government policy objective reflected in the co-contribution scheme and the abolition of the work test for super contributions.
Baby Boomers are giving their retirement savings a healthy top-up:
- More than 47% of beneficiaries of a co-contribution were aged between 46-65. Assisting the pre superannuation guarantee generation to boost retirement savings is another key outcome of the policy
Low and middle income households are getting the biggest benefit:
- For the 2003-04 financial year, co-contributions were paid to eligible individuals earning less than $40,000. Eligibility is not based on a combined household income.
- However, the ATO data does show what beneficiaries' spouses earned for that year. More than 80% of beneficiaries' spouses had a taxable income less than $60,000. Only 4% of beneficiaries' spouses had an income over $100,000.
"The Government is committed to helping individuals to maximise their retirement savings, and engaging more Australians on the importance of superannuation. This is a very positive start to a scheme that is achieving both those goals. I look forward to more positive results now that the scheme is even more generous."
Attachment
Age and State breakdowns
In the current financial year eligible personal superannuation contributions will be matched at $1.50 for every $1 contributed up to a maximum co-contribution of $1,500 for those on incomes up to $28,000. The maximum co-contribution now phases out an increased upper threshold of $58,000 (up from $40,000).
Co-contribution beneficiaries by residential state, and the value of entitlements, is as follows:
|
Qld |
27.5% |
$85.5m |
|
NSW |
25.4% |
$84.5m |
|
Vic |
23.2% |
$79.5m |
|
SA |
8.5% |
$26.4m |
|
WA |
7.9% |
$27.8m |
|
TAS |
3.5% |
$11.1m |
|
ACT |
2.9% |
$9.4m |
|
NT |
0.9% |
$2.5m |
|
Unknown* |
0.2% |
(* Where ATO system is unable to determine a current address for the taxpayer ie didn't put in a postcode or put in a valid postcode.)
The distribution of co-contribution beneficiaries by age is as follows:
|
Under 21 |
3.7 % |
|
21-25 |
7.3 % |
|
26-30 |
6.8 % |
|
31-35 |
9.5 % |
|
36-40 |
11.1 % |
|
41-45 |
13.5 % |
|
46-50 |
13.9 % |
|
51-55 |
14.9 % |
|
56-60 |
12.4 % |
|
61-65 |
5.8 % |
|
66-70 |
1.1 % |