So lucky ... Clint Eastwood’s famous Dirty Harry line is twice as old as Australia’s modern superannuation system. Source: Supplied

Well, you should, at least when it comes to your superannuation.

It’s almost 44 years since Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry challenged a robber with his immortal words. It’s less than 24 years since all Australians started receiving compulsory super, and while not as powerful as Clint’s famous quote or his .44 Magnum, super is starting to pack a considerable punch.

EARLIER: The turth about superannuation

Our combined superannuation savings has jumped from less than $250 billion in the mid-1990s to more than $1600 billion ($1.6 trillion) today and is projected to quadruple in size over the next 20 years.

That’s a big bucket of cash, but what’s in it for you? Plenty, if you compare us with other countries’ retirement savings systems.

A recent report by Russell Investments outlined five reasons why Australians should feel lucky about their super:

• It’s open to everyone and the money belongs to you, not an employer who may eventually go bust.

• It’s preserved until you reach retirement age. In Singapore super can be used for housing, healthcare and education, resulting in nothing left for many people later in life.

• It’s portable, and we can freely move it from one fund to another.

• We can choose how our super is invested — all shares, all cash, even artworks, but more commonly a mixture of assets.

• It has low tax rates that save people money while they build their retirement nest egg.

We’re going to need a bigger nest ... Australia’s combined superannuation savings now tally an estimated $1.6 trillion. Source: Supplied

Australia was recently ranked as having the second-best retirement savings system in the world, behind only Denmark.

Super gets criticised for being too confusing. It’s a fair comment, but we can thank our politicians for our frustration because they keep adding fresh layers of rules onto an existing mountain of complex rules.

However, super gets unfairly criticised for not doing its job.

The critics say too many people are still partially or fully reliant on the age pension in their golden years. But experts who have been watching super since the 1990s say a lot more people are enjoying a more comfortable retirement through a mixture of super and the pension.

Super has not matured to a point where any Australian has enjoyed a full working life of employer super payments. That day is still about 20 years away, so perhaps we’re judging it a little too early.

The most important thing to remember about super is that it’s your money. Too many people treat it as somebody else’s.

If you had $30,000 or $50,000 or $200,000 sitting in a bank deposit, you’d be annoyed if the bank was taking chunks of it away through fees or other deductions. That’s what happens with millions of super accounts every month.

We are lucky to live in Australia for many reasons, and our super system is one of them.

Luck plays a big role in investing. Picking the right stock at the right time can double your money quickly. Picking the wrong investments or the wrong time — like just before the GFC — can send your finances into reverse.

But with super we often make our own luck. Take advantage of its low tax benefits, pump in extra when you can, and get some advice if you’re uncertain.

Dirty Harry once said: “the law is crazy”. The law around superannuation keeps changing but it’s the only law we have, so we should make most of it.