How much do you need to retire?
Tags: super, retirement, savings, advice, planning
This is a really hard question! If you ask somebody how much super they think they need in order to live a comfortable retirement, most people will look at you blankly for a while. It’s not something we tend to think about often – but we should!
A Financial Services Council survey last year found that 46% of people thought a $500,000 super balance would be suitable to retire on, and 38% thought over $1 million was needed. But currently, the average superannuation balance at retirement is only $280,000 - this provides an income stream of $15,000 per year, or $577 per fortnight.
According to the AFSA Retirement Standards, as of 2014 a modest retirement income is $23,175 per annum for a single and $33,358 per annum for couples. For a comfortable retirement, a single person requires $42,158 p/a and a couple needs at least $57,665 p/a.
So how much will you need? It is widely accepted that people should use 65% of their pre-retirement income to estimate their post retirement income requirement. Work that out for your situation – does that sound about right? Or would you like more?
If you’d like help working out how much you’ll really need in super before you can retire – or for help in getting to that goal sooner – send us an email or give us a call. We want to help you start your countdown to pina coladas and long walks on the beach : )
