The social media trap that could cost you your retirement savings

February 21, 2026 — 5:01am

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Late last year – as an experiment – I clicked on a Facebook ad about superannuation. It was bright, urgent and confident. It warned that every year I delayed reviewing my super could cost me seven figures in retirement, and that hundreds of dollars were slipping away daily without me knowing. All I had to do was enter my details to get the “four steps” to beat time. Within minutes, my phone rang.

A businessman explained he ran a referral service connecting people to what he called the best financial adviser for them. He’d previously been a director of one firm he particularly liked, and my first appointment would be free.

I was referred on. A young adviser called to pre-qualify me. His questions were simple: Was I over 45? Did I have an Australian regulated super fund? Yes and yes, so I “qualified” for a phone-based discovery meeting after which a Statement of Advice could follow. No fee information, no quote, nothing until later.

Forms arrived the next day requesting super balances, member numbers and passport details. My lead generator rang again to check I was excited. That’s when I paused.

His answers to my questions were polite and over-rehearsed. But the structure was clear: a social media ad generated a lead, the lead was referred to an advice house for a fee, and the process began with an assumption that switching my super was likely.

It felt wrong. And it came right as First Guardian and Shield were imploding following a scheme which allegedly enticed more than 12,000 ordinary Australians into moving $1 billion of retirement savings into complex and risky funds.

Since then, my Facebook feed has been flooded with super-switching ads. I also get ads offering me clients, as though I’m an adviser looking to buy leads. So........

© The Sydney Morning Herald