Consumers cutting back on investments, super
Nearly a third of Australians have pulled money out of investments and are spending less on insurance contributions and superannuation in response to the higher cost of living, according to new research.
A Coredata study of more than 1,500 Australian consumers found that these were among a large number of key behavioural changes by Australians over the past three months.
The survey found 30.7 per cent of the respondents were pulling money out of investments, re-financing loans or selling properties.
Nearly 27 per cent of the respondents are also spending less on their insurance policies or their superannuation contributions.
Those respondents with a home loan were considerably more likely than those without one to be pulling money out of investments, re-financing loans or selling properties (35 per cent versus 25 per cent).
It found that those paying off a residential home loan were modifying their consumer behaviour considerably more than those without a loan or those having only an investment property loan to pay off.
They were found to be reducing expenditure on food and entertainment costs (64 per cent of those with loans versus 54 per cent) and planning cheaper or less frequent holidays (55 per cent versus 43 per cent).
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