Market meltdown: what it means for you

Superannuation funds have posted their worst performance since compulsory super was introduced in July 1992, a survey shows.

The rout in sharemarkets and falling assets values helped push the median of balanced funds' losses to 3.9 per cent in June, says industry ratings firm SuperRatings.

The median loss for the year to June 30 was 6.4 per cent for balanced investment funds - those funds that spread their investments around a range of different asset classes.

Over the period measured by SuperRatings the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index lost about 17 per cent of its value.

Meanwhile, two of the nation's biggest banks — ANZ and NAB — have admitted to having massive exposures to the credit crisis of more than $1 billion in ANZ's case.

At the same time, high interest rates are eroding the disposable income of many families and the cost of living is rising at rates well above the Reserve Bank of Australia's comfort zone.