2.6 million Australians withdrew a combined $38bn

More than 2.6 million Australians withdrew a combined $38bn from their retirement accounts during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now, new analysis shows that those who took the maximum amount available to them under the scheme – $20,000 in two installments – would have a future retirement income of $120,000 in today’s terms.

Then-prime minister Scott Morrison and former treasurer Josh Frydenberg allowed people to withdraw money from their accounts in the early days of the pandemic, giving low-income Australians money to gamble, eat takeaways and buy groceries. were more likely to access their super skin using