Brunner, Gregory GordonThorburn, Craig2012-06-012012-06-012008-10https://hdl.handle.net/10986/6934Australia introduced a mandatory retirement savings scheme in 1992. This built on pre-existing voluntary occupational plans. The new scheme has been very successful in expanding coverage and mobilizing large financial savings that are equal to close to 100 percent of GDP. However, Australia does not impose restrictions on payout options. The payout phase used to be dominated by lump sum withdrawals, which accounted for 80 percent of benefit payments as recently as 2002. But pension payments increased in recent years and now represent 45 percent of total payments. The vast majority of these pension payments take the form of term annuities and allocated annuities. The latter are similar to phased withdrawals in Chile but run for fixed terms of up to 25 years rather than for lifetime terms. The demand for life annuities and lifetime phased withdrawals is very limited. The paper discusses the factors that have shaped the pattern of demand for retirement products, including the availability of the universal age pension and the effect of clawback provisions, the impact of the high level of home ownership, and the widespread preference of retiring workers for reliance on self-annuitization. The paper also reviews the prudential regulation of superannuation funds and life insurance companies.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO CAPITALACCOUNT HOLDERACCOUNTINGADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONSADMINISTRATIVE COSTAFFORDABLE HOUSINGANNUAL CONTRIBUTIONSANNUAL EARNINGSANNUAL INCOMEANNUAL WAGEASSET HOLDINGSAVERAGE EARNINGSAVERAGE WAGEBALANCE SHEETBANK DEPOSITBANKSBENEFICIARIESBENEFICIARYBENEFIT ENTITLEMENTSBUDGET STATEMENTSBUSINESS OPERATIONSBUSINESS PLANCALCULATIONCAPITAL ADEQUACYCAPITAL INVESTMENTCAPITAL REQUIREMENTSCASH FLOWCOMMUNITY SERVICESCOMPETITIVE FINANCIAL SYSTEMCOMPULSORY CONTRIBUTIONSCONSUMERCONSUMER PROTECTIONCONSUMERSCONTRIBUTIONCONTRIBUTION RATECONTRIBUTION RATESCONTRIBUTION SCHEMESCREDIT RISKCREDIT UNIONSCURRENT EXPENDITURESCURRENT PENSIONERSDEBTDEFINED BENEFIT PENSIONSDEFINED CONTRIBUTION PENSIONDEPOSITDEPOSIT ACCOUNTSDEPOSITORSDISABILITYDISCLOSURE OF INFORMATIONDISCOUNT RATEEARLY RETIREMENTEARNINGSECONOMIC SHOCKSEMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONEMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONSEQUITY MARKETSEXEMPT INVESTMENTEXPENDITUREFINANCIAL AFFAIRSFINANCIAL ASSETSFINANCIAL BEHAVIORFINANCIAL CIRCUMSTANCESFINANCIAL GROUPFINANCIAL HARDSHIPFINANCIAL INDEPENDENCEFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL MARKETSFINANCIAL POSITIONFINANCIAL SAVINGSFINANCIAL SECTORFINANCIAL SECURITYFINANCIAL SYSTEMFINANCIAL SYSTEMSFISCAL POSITIONFUND ASSETSGENERAL PUBLICGOVERNMENT BUDGETGOVERNMENT LEGISLATIONGOVERNMENT PENSIONGOVERNMENT POLICIESGROSS INCOMEHOME LOANSHOME OWNERSHIPHOMEOWNERSHOUSEHOLD WEALTHINCOME GROUPSINCOME INCREASESINCOME LEVELINCOME STREAMINCOME STREAMSINCOME TAXINDEBTEDNESSINFLATIONINSURANCE POLICYINTEREST RATESINTERNATIONAL BANKINVESTINGINVESTMENT ACCOUNTINVESTMENT CHOICEINVESTMENT CHOICESINVESTMENT EARNINGSINVESTMENT INCOMEINVESTMENT POLICYINVESTMENT RETURNINVESTMENT RETURNSINVESTMENT RISKINVESTMENT STRATEGYLEVEL OF CONTRIBUTIONLEVEL OF RISKLEVELS OF RISKLIABILITYLIFE EXPECTANCYLIFE INSURANCELIFE INSURANCE COMPANIESLIFE INSURANCE COMPANYLIFE INSURANCE POLICIESLIFE INSURANCE PREMIUMSLIFE INSURERLIFE INSURERSLIFETIMELIMITED INCOMELOANLUMP SUMLUMP SUMSMARKET PARTICIPANTMARKET VALUEMARKETINGMINIMUM BENEFITMINIMUM BENEFITSMINIMUM CONTRIBUTIONMINIMUM PENSIONNATIONAL SAVINGNET WORTHOCCUPATIONAL PLANSOCCUPATIONAL SCHEMEOCCUPATIONAL SCHEMESOTHER ASSETSPAYMENT AMOUNTSPENSIONPENSION AGEPENSION ASSETPENSION ASSETSPENSION BENEFITPENSION BENEFITSPENSION COVERAGEPENSION ENTITLEMENTPENSION ENTITLEMENTSPENSION FRAMEWORKPENSION FUNDPENSION FUNDSPENSION INCOMEPENSION LITERATUREPENSION POWERSPENSION PROVIDERSPENSION REFORMSPENSION SYSTEMPENSION SYSTEMSPENSIONABLE AGEPENSIONERPENSIONERSPERSONAL INCOMEPOPULATION AGEINGPOVERTY ALLEVIATIONPRESENT VALUEPRIVATE PENSIONPRIVATE SAVINGSPROBABILITYPRODUCTIVITYPRUDENT RISK MANAGEMENTPRUDENTIAL REGULATIONPRUDENTIAL STANDARDSPUBLIC PENSIONSRATE OF GROWTHRATES OF INTERESTREAL ESTATEREGULAR INCOMEREGULAR PAYMENTSREGULATORY FRAMEWORKREPAYMENTSREPLACEMENT RATEREPLACEMENT RATESRESERVESRETIREMENTRETIREMENT AGERETIREMENT BENEFITRETIREMENT INCOMERETIREMENT INCOMESRETIREMENT PLANSRETIREMENT PRODUCTSRETIREMENT SAVINGSRETIREMENT SAVINGS ACCOUNTRISK TOLERANCERISK TOLERANCE LEVELSSAFETY NETSALESALESSECURITIESSOCIAL SECURITYSOLVENCYSOURCE OF RETIREMENT INCOMESOURCES OF INCOMESTATUTORY FUNDSTATUTORY FUNDSSTOCK MARKETSUPERANNUATION SYSTEMSUPERVISORY AUTHORITYTAX RATETAX TREATMENTTAXABLE INCOMETERMINATIONTREASURYTRUST DEEDTRUSTEETRUSTEESTYPES OF PENSIONSUNDERLYING ASSETSVALUATIONVALUATIONSVALUE OF ASSETSVOLUNTARY SAVINGSWAGE GROWTHWAGESWITHDRAWALWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-4749