AUSTRALIANS have fallen more than $800 billion behind where they should be if they want to be financially comfortable in retirement. 
And the gap between what we have saved and what we will need is growing by about 5 per cent a year, according to new figures from research group Rice Warner.
AustralianSuper chief executive Ian Silk said older Australians were among the most disadvantaged. Women too were at a disadvantage because they were paid less and spent time out of the workforce to raise families.
"The many baby boomers retiring now have only had the benefit of compulsory superannuation â€¦ for 23 years, and it began at just 3 per cent," he said. "The system has several decades to go before it reaches full maturity."
Rice Warner releases a Retirement Savings Gap report each year with the Financial Services Council. The latest published results, for   June 2014, show the gap grew from $727 billion to $768 billion in just 12 months. Unpublished estimates put the figure at more than $800 billion at   June 2015.
"Fundamentally, we are not saving enough," Rice Warner head of client relationships, Steve Freeborn, said.
The super shortfall is also affected by factors such as longer life expectancies and tougher age pension rules.
The latest ASFA Retirement Standard says a retired couple needs annual income of $58,784 to live comfortably, while a single needs $42,861.Pauline Vamos, CEO of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, said to achieve this, a couple would need savings of $640,000 when starting retirement while a single would need $545,000.