Lifebroker: Australian Worries Can Be an Opportunity for Advisers

The quest for confidence in the face of a changing world is an important part of the contemporary Australian psyche, according to the results of a survey conducted by Macquarie Adviser Services.

According to Lifebroker, Macquarie's project, which surveyed more than 1,600
Australians, was led by Gary Lembit, the company's Analytic Researh Manager for its Banking and Services Group, who sees this quest as motivation for a more involved population of consumers. "Australians are more cautious than in the past and while they recognise the value in professional advice, they are doing more of their own research, talking to their family and friends and generally wanting to be more involved in the decision making," he said.

At the same time, the most common fear among respondents is "not having enough for a rainy day," with more than a third of survey participants naming this as their top worry. In second place on the list of worries was the fear that there might not be enough to pay household bills, followed by the prospect of having inadequate money in retirement. Brisbane respondents supplied a different answer, putting retirement funding at the top of the list.

Macquarie noted that answers varied depending on the age and gender of the respondent. Women, for example, were more likely to save when they had funds available, while men were more likely to put spare cash into investments. When asked how they felt about life, baby boomers were the most positive. Younger respondents were less satisfied, with 37% of Generation X respondents indicating that they were under stress and 57% of Generation Y respondents seeking "a more fulfilling life."

Lembit elaborated on some of the geographic differences at a recent seminar hosted by Macquarie. Although respondents consistently reported that they had become more cautious, that caution manifested itself in different ways in different cities. In Sydney and Melbourne, people postponed travel, while Perth residents put off major life decisions and respondents in Adelaide had reconsidered what they valued in life.

Macquarie sees the survey results, with 80% of respondents indicating that they would be open to financial advice, as an opportunity for financial planners. Despite that openness, only 63% have actually sought advice in the past. Professional advice would be welcomed by 50% of the respondents when the subject of that advice was retirement planning, for example, but only 17% had actually sought that kind of advice.

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