Farm boy Fletcher wins $1000 for his super fund

It would take 15-year-old Fletcher Taylor hours of work on the family farm or at the local butcher to earn $1000 for his superannuation fund.

But Fletcher's strong work ethic and love of saving money have won him a $1000 super contribution, courtesy of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) Youth Week competition.

The competition was designed to get young people thinking about super, and offered a prize of a $1000 super contribution or $300 cash for the best entry.

ASFA chief executive Martin Fahy says Fletcher's entry, selected from more than 60, "was irresistible".

"Fletcher was enthusiastic and engaging and there was immediate agreement from the judges that he deserved the prize. He is clearly quite a character and it's great to see such a young advocate of saving into super."

Fletcher is in Year 10 and boards at Kinross Wolaroi School in Orange in the NSW central west.

He started working at a young age, at the local butcher shop in Grenfell and on the family property, Glenalla, where the Taylors farm wheat, canola, hay, barley and sheep.

"I am born and bred on a farm and I know hard work can be very rewarding. To give my super savings a kick along, I prefer a $1000 deposit to invest for my retirement years. I'm already working on it," he says in his video.

Fletcher loves saving and opened his super account as early as he could, says mum Mandy.

"He is a hard worker and loves to help out, driving the tractor or in the shearing shed," she says. "He loves all sorts of farm work."

Fahy says superannuation is still the best bet in town for saving for retirement.

"Young people inherently know super is a good thing," he says. "The challenge is to get every Australian engaged with their super and realising they can have a hands-on approach to their long term retirement savings."

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