RETIRING

How much super will I need?

Most of us daydream about the day we finally finish work and retire. Whether you dream of cruising around the world, campervanning around Australia, or just pottering about in the garden and improving your golf skills, the magic question is: how much do you need to make your retirement dreams a reality?

According to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia’s Retirement Standard, to have a ‘comfortable’ retirement, single people will need $545,000 in retirement savings, and couples will need $640,000. You can use this guide to estimate how much money you’ll need to have a ‘comfortable’ or ‘modest’ retirement. See the box below for more information. The Standard is updated four times a year to take into consideration the rising price of items like food and utility bills, as well as changing lifestyle expectations and spending habits. The Standard includes the cost of things such as health, communication, clothing, travel and household goods.

	Comfortable retirement	Modest retirement	Age Pension
Single	$43,665 a year	$24,250 a year	$20,721 a year *
Couple	$59,971 a year	$34,855 a year	$31,238 a year *
	One annual holiday in Australia.	One or two short breaks in Australia near where you live each year	Even shorter breaks or day trips in your own city
	Regularly eat out at restaurants. Good range and quality of food	Infrequently eat out at restaurants that have cheap food. Cheaper and less food than a ‘comfortable’ lifestyle standard	Only club special meals or inexpensive takeaway
	Owning a reasonable car	Owning an older, less reliable car	No car or, if you have a car, it will be a struggle to afford repairs
	Afford bottled wine	Afford cask wine	Home brew beer or no alcohol at all
	Good clothes	Reasonable clothes	Basic clothes
	Afford regular hair cuts at a good hairdresser	Afford regular hair cuts only at a basic salon or pensioner special day	Less frequent hair cuts or getting a friend to cut your hair
	Take part in a range of regular leisure activities	Take part in one paid leisure activity infrequently. Some trips to the cinema	Only taking part in no cost or very low cost leisure activities. Rare trips to the cinema
	A range of electronic equipment	Not much scope to run air conditioner	Less heating in winter
	Replace kitchen and bathroom over 20 years	No budget for home improvements. Can do repairs, but can't replace kitchen or bathroom	No budget to fix home problems like a leaky roof
	Private health insurance	Private health insurance	No private health insurance

Figures from March Quarter 2017.

* Base rate before payment of supplements.

To find out how much money you’ll need to support the lifestyle you want in retirement, use the ASFA Retirement Standard tool. To work out how much money you’ll have when you retire, based on your current circumstances, use the Retirement projector calculator. For help saving more super, see the Grow your super section.