Mr Maloney is now the CEO of Student Super, which launched this week and is specifically designed to meet the needs of young Australians.
The launch follows new research conducted by Student Super’s sister company, Student Services Australia, which surveyed 3,566 students nationally in October 2018.
The survey revealed a knowledge gap when it comes to super, with 49.72 percent of students having little or no knowledge about superannuation, and 42.41 percent unsure about how much money they had in their super fund. This is despite 65.55 percent of students saying they had a super fund.
Mr Maloney – who sold his former business Flatmates.com.au to REA in 2016 for $25 million – said the lack of awareness that young Australians had about their super funds was a major issue.
“Students can have as many as six different employers before they turn 25. But because they’re usually not thinking about their long-term financial goals, they’ll go with whatever the default super fund is each time. In fact, 69.61 percent of students surveyed said they used the default super fund that their employer set up for them,” he said.
“What they don’t realise is that they’re paying duplicate fees with each fund, which can eventually whittle their super down to nothing. That’s a whole decade’s worth of contributions that could make a real difference to their super balance down the line.”
Mr Maloney said that if a student had four casual jobs while studying and went with a different super fund each time, they could pay as much as $1,200 in fees.
“This amount, although small, could grow to $26,426 by age 65,” he said.
Student Super is designed for students who have casual or part-time jobs while they’re studying. It charges zero fees for balances under $1,000 and has discounted fees for balances under $5,000.
It doesn’t offer TPD (disability cover) or life cover, which helps to keep the fees low.
“Regular super funds aren’t setup to accommodate the frequent job-hopping and sporadic income of the typical young Australian, whereas Student Super is,” Mr Maloney said.
“We’ve set this fund up to empower students to get the best possible start on their financial future. Joining takes less than five minutes, and using the fully-featured, jargon-free Student Super app, young adults can find and combine any existing funds, let their employer know where to pay their super, and even change how their super is invested.”
