Personal savings may still hit the lows in the decades ahead as more Australians are likely to invest in pensions.

Forty year olds in the Australian workforce seem to value a retirement because most are investing in superannuation pensions. Account-based pensions or allocated pensions, as these investments are called, determine the lifestyle beyond the working years.

Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees chief executive Fiona Reynolds points out a slight risk in the investment. People may outlive their pensions.

Reynolds said, “Managing longevity risk (people's retirement savings drying up before they die) will become a major issue as our population ages and our compulsory super system matures.”

The average retirement today stretches as far as 25 years. The longevity years is twice now compared to the less than a decade spent by baby boomers in retirement. Reynolds stressed that “Managing this longevity risk is the missing link in our retirement system.”

Women who have retired receive an average super balance of about $75,000. Men get an average of $150,000. The figures compute to less than $15,000 a year in retirement.

Managing director Jeff Bresnahan of the independent research company SuperRatings, disclosed an on par performance between pension fund returns and superannuations during the past year.

A balanced pension had a medium return of 9.25 percent, while the average super fund had 9.79 per cent.