More than 70% of older working Australians with adult children are planning to help them financially by drawing on the super balances in retirement, REST reported.
One in five survey respondents say they would draw on their super to provide their children with a house deposit.
While one in three respondents said they would pass on any inheritance they received directly to their children to help them enter the property market.
Survey respondents also said they would use their superannuation to help pay for grandkids’ school fees and family holidays.
REST Industry CEO Damian Hill urged retirees to crunch the numbers carefully to strike the right balance between funding their own retirement while helping their families.
“What comes through clearly is the desire of people approaching retirement to ease the financial burdens their adult children face today, especially buying a house and covering school fees,” Mr Hill said.
“That’s laudable but we would urge retirees not to forget that their retirement savings are first and foremost meant to fund their own retirement, and using retirement savings for other purposes may mean they become a financial burden on their own children later in life.”