Busting myths about AMP Super Lifetime Boost

Retirement planning can feel overwhelming, especially when new superannuation features enter the mix. AMP Super Lifetime Boost is designed to help members make the most of their savings and create a reliable income for life. But with innovation comes questions – and sometimes, misconceptions. From forums to Facebook comments, we’ve gathered the most common confusions and are here to set the record straight, so you can make informed decisions about your financial future.

Myth 1: “It just looks like a way to convince you to leave you super with them longer once you retire”

We take our members’ retirement seriously, and we want to help you make the most of it, so we’d love to be on the retirement journey with you. 

Under the current legislation, you can’t transfer the benefit from your AMP Super Lifetime Boost to a different fund, but it doesn’t lock you into anything at all. Later on, if you decide a Lifetime Pension is not for you or you want to take your retirement savings out from AMP Super, you will be able to take your whole balance with you just like you never had Lifetime Boost added in the first place. 

If you decide to allocate some of your super into an AMP Lifetime Pension, it will deliver you an income for life that will never run out.¹ If for some reason, you decide you want to withdraw from Lifetime Pension, you will be able to get your money back subject to the legislative maximum amount. The money back amount equals the initial amount you allocated into the Lifetime Pension minus the sum of all the income you received from it. 

Myth 2: “There’s got to be hidden fees and costs”

Nope, there are absolutely no hidden costs or fees for Lifetime Boost to be added to your account, we’ve simply added this as a new feature to our existing super product. Later on, if you decide a Lifetime Pension is not for you or want to take your retirement savings out from AMP Super, you will be able to take your whole balance with you just like you never had Lifetime Boost. 

Myth 3: “Sounds like a pyramid scheme”

Not at all. Lifetime Boost is simply giving you an extra option to consider for your retirement. There’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach for retirement so we are simply adding some new options to help our members live a retirement to be jealous of!

Myth 4: "If it goes into a pool and members leave, do we lose money?"

Lifetime Boost itself is just a little supercharger set up in the background for your AMP Super while you are still working. It does not cost anything extra, and there is no change to your super account, including investments. 

If you decide to convert some of your super with Lifetime Boost into a Lifetime Pension when you eventually meet a full condition of release to access your money in super (and you are not at all obligated to) then that Lifetime Pension will deliver an income for you that never runs out, backed by an insurer. Your annual income will only move with the investment performance of the “pool”, and other members’ decisions to join or leave do not impact your income.   

Myth 5: “Have AMP found a loophole or have they have just misinterpreted the law?” 

There’s no loophole and there’s no misinterpretation of the law – we take our legal requirements very seriously!  

The Age Pension concessions were introduced by the Government as part of the Retirement Income Covenant legislation in 2022. Australia has one of the most mature accumulation systems for retirement savings in the world, thanks to compulsory superannuation contributions. However, many retirees lack confidence when it comes to spending their savings due to the fear of running out. This often results in under utilisation of retirement funds and reduced quality of life. 

To build retirement confidence, lifetime solutions were identified as the missing options for retirees. To encourage both the offering and uptake of lifetime solutions, the Government introduced Age Pension concessions. 

AMP Super launched Lifetime Boost to leverage these concessions provided by the Government (not a loophole!) to help improve members’ income when they retire and further boost  the benefit of an AMP Lifetime Pension. 

Lifetime Boost is also designed to start meaningful conversations about retirement planning earlier, empowering members to explore options, and to make informed decisions to enjoy a more secure and confident retirement. There is nothing stopping others from following us to offer similar lifetime solutions, in fact the regulators are pushing for further progress. 

Myth 6: “It’s probably only worth it for people that are going to be slightly above the asset test limits because the annuity will be worth less than taking a lump sum.”

Lifetime Boost might not benefit everyone, that’s right. If you are already eligible to receive the maximum, or ineligible for the Age Pension for other reasons, then Lifetime Boost might not help you – but it will likely help the overwhelming majority. Our modelling shows approximately 94% of AMP Super fund members can benefit from Lifetime solutions². There is no downside to add Lifetime Boost now to give you more options in the future, as your circumstances might change between now and retirement, and having an extra option with no extra cost could not harm.

Myth 7: “The legislation will probably change multiple times over the next few decades.”

We can’t stop changes to legislation but remember that the Age Pension concessions were introduced by the Government on purpose to support the offering and uptake of lifetime solutions. The ultimate purpose is to help Australians make the most of their retirement savings, have the confidence to live a comfortable retirement and actually spend their hard-earned savings to achieve that.