Retiree shocked to find super account drained of funds
A retired couple have received the shock of their life after finding out their super was drained to next to nothing after years of hard work.
Stephen Lockwood worked his entire life but was forced to retire after having open-heart surgery, a plate placed in his neck for sciatic nerve, and two hip replacements.
At 65 years old, Stephen believed that he had enough in his super account for him and his wife Denise.
But when Denise went to take a look at the account, she was horrified to find only $48,863.80 of the expected $200,000 that was meant to be in there.
It is understood that in 2010, Stephen took advice from MBA Financial Strategists to merge all his super accounts into one.
Based on life insurance cover, all three accounts were merged into AXA's Summit Personal Super Plan before merging into AMP the following year.
Five years later, Stephen had a record of $79,613.71 in his super but things took a turn despite the couple contributing $800 each month.
This was caused by multiple fees each month, particularly for his life insurance and total permanent disability cover, which almost quadrupled from $509 per month in 2013 to $1960 a month this year.
He was also being charged for a financial advisor.
"They were taking $24,000 a year," Stephen told A Current Affair.
Stephen admitted he wasn’t keeping tabs on his account and assumed that being charged for an advisor from MBA Financial Strategist was okay.
MBA Financial Strategists told the publication that they attempted to reach out to Stephen in 2017 but heard no response.
"At his most recent review in 2017, we alerted Mr Lockwood that his life insurer was increasing his premiums and it would be prudent to review his level of cover," a spokesperson told A Current Affair.
"We made multiple attempts to contact Mr Lockwood over a number of years to assist with his annual review, however due to lack of contact we ceased charging his annual fee for advice in 2020.”
Stephen’s account has since been referred to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority with AMP cooperating to receive the best possible solution.
Image: ACA