The Risky Pivot Inside Australia’s Pension System
A deep anxiety about retirement has people switching to do-it-yourself investment vehicles, where they’re loading up on crypto and other risky assets.
During a 25-minute Uber ride last October to the airport in Adelaide, Australia, Rocco Longo watched his retirement savings mostly vanish before his eyes.
The 41-year-old wine industry professional was glued to his screen as his bet on a little-known cryptocurrency called Kaspa—the sole holding in his pension fund—went into freefall, slashing his holdings from about A$40,000 ($28,684) to just over A$6,000. The coin had been losing value for months, but this was on a whole new level. It clawed back some of the losses yet still sits at a fraction of his original investment. Longo has no regrets. “At the end of the day, it’s my future,” says Longo, who has a Ph.D. in wine science. “Why should I give my money to somebody else to make a decision on my behalf?”