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Posted: 2024-06-22 20:06:28

If you migrate to Australia, your superannuation might not be so super.

The average balance for those from a non-English speaking background at retirement is about 30 per cent lower than the general population, at $320,000 compared to $460,000.

The gap starts to emerge as early as your mid-20s and widens as you age.

And while there has been substantial growth in superannuation balances over the past decade, the savings of people from non-English speaking backgrounds "fall well short of the amounts needed for sustaining a comfortable lifestyle in retirement", according to a 2024 report from the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia.

So why are super balances for migrants so low, and what is being done to fix it?

How migration can derail your career, and your super

Superannuation is built on the financial wizardry of compounding returns.

Regular contributions to an investment portfolio grow slowly in the early years of your career but accelerate as your savings, and earnings on your investments, increase.

A woman with brown hair taking a selfie at a table with a coffee cup

Eunice Au has applied for senior jobs in Australia, only to be told her overseas experience was not applicable.(Supplied: Eunice Au)

Contributions are calculated as a percentage of your income, a minimum of 11.5 per cent from July, so the more you earn, the more goes into super.

But migrants like Hong Kong expat Eunice Au often struggle to find jobs at a comparable seniority and salary as when they worked in their home country.

"When we apply for senior roles, they say, 'Oh, you don't have the experience because your experience was overseas and it's not applicable here,'" she said.

"It is very bad and I have lots of friends who couldn't get back to what they used to do."

Rachna Madaan Bowman, a financial counsellor with multicultural support organisation South East Community Links, said many migrants and refugees spend years working in unrelated fields or for lower pay after coming to Australia.

And every year spent earning less, means less money for super.

"You could be a trained nurse in your own country, but you are working in a factory just to make ends meet," she said.

"You could be a teacher or a doctor, but it takes time for you to get your qualification recognised.

"There's a lot of hoops to jump through but in that time, you still need to provide for yourself and your family."

Superannuation can be super confusing

Rachna Madaan Bowman stands defiant in front of a grey, stone wall, covered in words from different languages.

Rachna Madaan Bowman says navigating Australia's financial services when English is your second language can be tough.(ABC News: Lachlan Bennett)

Ms Madaan Bowman has seen cases where dodgy employers don't pay the super of migrant workers but that's just one of many problems facing migrants trying to save for retirement.

"It all comes down to limited access to information and education around what their options are, and there's a lot of misinformation," she said.

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