Evidence presented to the Select Senate Committee on Superannuation last week has raised concerns that super will only serve as an adequate income for future retirees if fees and charges are limited to around 1%. And that’s not likely to happen.

Australian Consumers Association Senior Policy Officer Catherine Wolthuizen called for a tax cut and an examination of the impact of charges currently being levied on super accounts.

“The chunk that both these are taking out of accumulation funds affects their capacity to grow to a sufficient level to provide adequate retirement incomes for those Australians who are sacrificing current income,” she said. A typical consumer could have around 20% of their retirement nest egg reduced because they belonged to a costly retail fund.