![\"Super](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/5f0dfc779aaf096fac74433a369d3a6f.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nMore than one in three Aussies say they have not told their super fund who should receive their money when they die, according to fresh research from Super Consumers Australia.<\/p>\n
This equates to more than 6.5 million Australians who risk putting loved ones through hefty delays to access their inheritance by failing to make a either a binding or non-binding death benefit nomination.<\/p>\n
A binding nomination is a legal document that ensures a super fund pays who the customer had intended.<\/p>\n
A non-binding nomination informs the fund of the customer’s wishes but the fund still has some discretion over where it pays the customers\u2019 money after death.<\/p>\n
Super Consumers Australia revealed just one quarter of super customers have made a binding death benefit nomination.<\/p>\n
Xavier O\u2019Halloran, Super Consumers Australia’s CEO, said the high rate of Australians that have failed to lock in their death benefit nomination was a \u201cred flag\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a system that\u2019s too hard to understand and navigate,\u201d Mr O\u2019Halloran said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout a valid binding nomination, funds have to decide who your money goes to.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat leaves families in limbo, sometimes waiting months or years to access money they are entitled to. And it\u2019s not good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
While older Aussies are more likely to have locked in a binding death benefit nomination, the rates are still relatively low.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One quarter of those aged 45-54 still have not made a nomination despite their average account balance being $149,000, while just 54 per cent of those aged 65-74 have made a binding nomination.<\/p>\n
Mr O\u2019Halloran said government action was necessary to crack down on these delays which impact grieving families who urgently need funds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Federal Government must launch an independent review of how death benefits work in super,\u201d Mr O\u2019Halloran said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralians deserve a system that\u2019s simple, consistent and actually delivers in their time of need.\u201d<\/p>\n
Super Consumers Australia has called for action from super funds, including urging its members to either make or update a binding nomination, provide clearer guidance on how to make a nomination valid and to offer online nomination options that do not expire.<\/p>\n
Mr O\u2019Halloran said changes to make binding nominations more easily accessible was “one of the basics that super funds should be getting right\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople work their whole lives to build up their super and they should get to decide where it goes when they pass away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Super Consumers Australia said 24 per cent of respondents were sure they had made a binding nomination while 25 per cent said they have made a nomination but were not sure if it was binding or non-binding.<\/p>\n
The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia forecasts a 30-year-old earning the median income of $75,000 with a super balance of $30,000 could accumulate $610,000 in super by retirement.<\/p>\n
It comes above the $595,000 that ASFA estimates is needed for a comfortable retirement for single Aussies that own their home.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a homeowner couple needs $690,000 in super to reach the same level of financial security.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than one in three Aussies say they have not told their super fund who should receive their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[20045,79,19517,18,19,17,20047,234,235,20046,11782,19520],"class_list":{"0":"post-23754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-binding-death-benefit-nomination","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-death-benefit-nomination","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-non-binding-death-benefit-nomination","15":"tag-personal-finance","16":"tag-personalfinance","17":"tag-super-consumer-australia","18":"tag-superannuation","19":"tag-xavier-ohalloran"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}