Thousands of Wagga workers are eating into their retirement savings and leaving themselves with nothing in their old age, according to the latest data from Industry Super Australia.
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Across the Riverina 17,313 people dipped into their superannuation funds early, with 3273 people draining their accounts entirely.
Industry Super Australia chief executive Bernie Dean said this spelled disaster both for current workers and for the next generation of young people, who would end up footing a "whopping" pension bill.
"Workers in Wagga who accessed their super to prop themselves up now face a looming tragedy of retiring with less and being more reliant on the pension," Mr Dean said.
"The youngest Australians would face a shocking double whammy they can't afford if they have to repay the debt government has taken on during this crisis, and then pay for our retirement on the pension."
Navigate financial planner Gavin Lamb said accessing superannuation early was a deceptively costly move, due to the power of inflation and compound interest.
He said a thirty-year-old who took out $20,000 today could expect to be around $50,000 poorer upon retirement, whereas $10,000 left to sit today would balloon into about a $70,000 nest egg in forty years.
However Mr Lamb said that people had a right to access their own money, especially if the short-term need was there.
"In terms of government policy it's quite clear: it's your money and if it's more important that you get it in the short term for essential things, that's at your discretion," Mr Lamb said.
"On the flip side if you didn't need it and you take it out and do something silly with it, then it's going to create a longer term problem that a lot of people don't grasp the financial implication of."
Association of Super Funds Australia deputy CEO Glen McCrea said young people should "not panic", and should think twice before accessing their super early.
"We don't want younger people to have the impact of COVID-19 and difficult in terms of employment, and then to have to face a lifetime of poverty when they retire and get $67 on the aged pension," Mr McRea said.
"If you have taken the money out, now's a great time for them to look at how they can put money in when they can going forward."
ASFA figures show that Riverina super funds are sitting below the state average, but that Wagga's super funds were pretty much dead-on average with a healthier balance of around $142,000 per account.