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How you'll lose $790,000
Sydney Morning Herald October 21, 2004 - 1:38PM

The average Australian stands to lose up to 22 times their median annual income over the course of their life through bad financial management, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission said today.

Speaking at the launch of ASIC's financial management guide Your Money in Sydney, Commonwealth Financial Literacy taskforce chairman Paul Clitheroe said average income earners were wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars through bad decisions.

"Taskforce research modelled the effects of bad financial decision making," Mr Clitheroe said.

"(It) discovered that a person on a salary of $36,000 per annum stands to lose $790,000 in lost wealth over the course of their lifetime."

These included ill-informed investment, superannuation and mortgage choices, misuse of credit cards and bad management of debt, ASIC chairman Jeffrey Lucy said.

"Average income earners can potentially save thousands of dollars by the time they retire," Mr Lucy said.

"To avoid lost opportunities it's crucial for everyone, especially those not on high incomes to get the most out of their money and to plan for the future."

Australian Consumers Association chief executive Peter Kell said financial awareness was important for any income bracket.

"Anyone can start now, no matter how little money they have...to make a real difference to their finances," he said.

Your Money details a range of financial strategies and issues, including investment, insurance, superannuation and managing mortgages and debt.

It can be found online at http://www.fido.asic.gov.au.