Attitudes towards Gold
In addition to gaining a deeper understanding of general attitudes and behaviours towards long-term savings and retirement, the survey explored people’s knowledge and attitudes towards gold. The precious metal is richly ingrained in Australia’s history and is still among its five largest exports of goods and services contributing A$23 billion+ to the economy.1
The survey found that Australians generally have a positive attitude towards gold as an investment. But only one third of those not invested in gold, were aware that Supers can buy the precious metal. This might be due to very few providers having any allocations within their default/accumulation funds.
Awareness is far higher among those who invest into an SMSF, have taken the self-directed option that providers offer, and/or have other forms of investments.
Interestingly, awareness and investment in gold was linked to higher levels of optimism: 79% of people aware of gold in their Supers are optimistic about retirement compared to 62% of those unaware, with 34% feeling they will be able to afford the lifestyle they want compared to 19% of those unaware. Those high optimists tend to have higher valued Supers. 33% of them have a Super worth more than A$300k, compared with just 11% of those who were unaware that Supers could invest in gold.
Overall, 37% of respondents stated that they would expect a better return from an investment in gold compared with other types of investments, while only 6% would expect gold to generate a worse return. Additionally, 70% of those with a Super say they would be likely to choose gold, if given the option, in their investment allocation.
Those that hold a gold allocation tend to be more optimistic and informed around their retirement investments. However, there is a possible education gap, as some people are potentially making the (incorrect) assumption that they have exposure to the precious metal in their default Super given its importance to the Australian economy.
