Will you have enough super when you retire?
December 10 2024
How much super will you have?
You probably know how much super you have now, but do you know how much you'll have for your retirement?
Members with a defined benefit account can run a personal future benefit estimate whenever they want in the Account menu of Members Online. Otherwise, you can take some of the guesswork out of how much your super you might have when you retire using the Retirement Supermodeller on our Calculators webpage.
If you've already retired, you can check your balance in Members Online.
How much super will you need?
To give you an idea, The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) has created a Retirement Standard which is updated four times a year and includes the cost of things such as health, communication, clothing, travel, and household goods.
You can download documents and read about the ASFA Retirement Standard on their website. They provide information for two "lifestyles" assuming that retirees own their own home outright and are relatively healthy:
- ASFA's comfortable retirement lifestyle (Comfortable Lifestyle) enables a retiree to be involved in a broad range of leisure and recreational activities and to have a good standard of living through the purchase of such things as; household goods, private health insurance, a reasonable car, good clothes, a range of electronic equipment, and domestic and occasionally international holiday travel.
- ASFA's modest retirement lifestyle (Modest Lifestyle) is considered better than the Age Pension, but still only allows for the basics.
ASFA Retirement Standard, December quarter 2022:*
|
Comfortable Lifestyle |
Modest Lifestyle |
|
Single |
Couple |
Single |
Couple |
How much you may spend in retirement aged 65-84 |
$49,462 per year |
$69,961 per year |
$31,323 per year |
$45,106 per year |
The lump sum you may need for retirement at age 67 |
$595,000 |
$690,000 |
$100,000 |
$100,000 |
You can also learn more at the Super Guru website.
Set your retirement objectives
Working out how much money you'll need in retirement can be challenging. It's important that you understand your retirement objectives. Using a target lifestyle, such as ASFA's Comfortable Lifestyle shown above, will give you an idea of how much you may need each year.
A Senior Financial Adviser with ESSSuper says it is very difficult to generalise about the amount of money people need at any age.**
"Budgeting is such an individual process. We see members who can live very comfortably on the age pension while others feel they need much more than this for a comfortable life. How much you may need is one of the first questions we ask any member who comes to see us and it is something everyone needs to work out as an individual or couple."
"We recommend you complete a budget before you retire to determine your needs. A good place to start is the Budget Planner on the MoneySmart† website. It may also be beneficial to seek professional advice from a licensed financial planner or adviser."
MoneySmart Budget Planner†
A complete budget can help you determine your income needs in retirement.
Budget Planner