The idea behind
ClearSuper.
What if superannuation data was actually designed for people?
Hi, I'm Ethan
I'm a computer science student based in Australia with a deep interest in technology and building products that solve real problems.
ClearSuper started from a simple realisation. I didn't understand my own super, and neither did most people I knew.
Super is a big deal. It touches almost every working Australian across their entire career. Working as a disability support worker, I've seen firsthand how much the interaction between people, technology and systems matter. Technology when used responsibly, has the ability to address gaps in the systems we all depend on.
ClearSuper is my attempt at that.
Why I Built ClearSuper
A few years ago I was doing Menulog deliveries during the pandemic. As a gig worker I wasn't earning super, so a family member suggested I contribute some of my earnings myself. I didn't. At 19, I wasn't interested. Truth be told, I had never even logged into my account.
Turns out I wasn't unusual. Research from AMP found a quarter of Australians have never checked their super. I was a clear example of it.
Since then I've spent time trying to understand it, both at a system and a personal level. I often wonder what could have made my 19-year-old self stop and think a little longer. To me, super never really felt real. Until one day it did. I saw how it could play out over a lifetime. And that it didn't always play out evenly.
Engagement is a hard problem. Super is long term by design, yet the digital spaces around us increasingly compete for our attention in the short term.
It's something I don't have a clean answer for. But it's something I keep coming back to.
I keep coming back to the psychological distance I felt at 19. I don't feel that same distance when I walk into a home, even though a home is also partly an abstraction: boundaries, contracts, legal title, and lines on a map that we have collectively agreed to recognise. What makes it feel real is the physical material. The bricks, the walls, the very space you can stand in. A place belonging to a community. A home belongs to the present and the future at the same time.
Super funds invest in real things too. Companies that power our phones, airports we fly from, the roads we drive on, the buildings we work in. The ownership and the impact on the future can be just as real as a brick home. But without something to make it felt, it still appears as a number on a screen. Something distant and technical.
Here's my theory: if the average Aussie can understand what their super fund is, what it's doing, and how it connects to the wider world, that understanding could help build more confidence around their finances.
I think this is where digital tools and services have an important role. Making the abstract feel present. The way bricks make lines on a map feel like a home.
I don't think anyone is getting it wrong. I think it shows how hard the engagement problem is, and It's part of what has led me to start building something. ClearSuper is a proof of concept. One attempt at what a more visual relationship with super could look like.
If you have thoughts, I'd genuinely like to hear them.
Full Disclaimer
A Summary: ClearSuper is not a financial product and is not licensed to provide financial advice. Holdings show the structure of a fund relative to your entered balance. Dollar amounts are calculated using reported weights. This is not an exact or live breakdown. It's the proportional exposure to holdings, applied to the date at which the holdings were reproted. Calculators are models based on assumptions and are not predictions of future outcomes. ClearSuper's intention is data visualisation. It's a work in progress, in beta, and subject to errors. Do not make financial decisions based on what's shown. Consider speaking to a licensed financial adviser, and always check the fund's official PDS and reported holdings data. For factual information, refer to the ATO and Moneysmart.