• HOSTPLUS
Advice Updated 15 March 2012

Planning for retirement

For people who plan for it, retirement can be a reward after years of working hard. It’s a new phase of life full of new opportunities.

But it’s an unfortunate fact that few Australians actually enjoy a comfortable retirement as many rely partly or solely on the basic retirement benefits provided by the Age Pension.

Most people find deciding what level of income they need in retirement, and how to organise it, quite challenging - that's where we can help.

Modest vs. comfortable? How much do you need?

According to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (AFSA) Retirement Standard benchmarks calculated in December 2011, a comfortable lifestyle for a couple, including entertainment, a car, new clothes, private health insurance and holidays, can cost about $55,249 a year. A modest lifestyle in retirement may be a better lifestyle than provided by the Age Pension, but may be limited to fairly basic activities and could require $31,675 a year per couple.

Learn more about the ASFA Retirement Standards

Generally, if you’ve been living on an above average income and have paid off your home loan, you might need about 67% of your pre-retirement gross income per year to maintain a lifestyle you consider comfortable in your retirement.

Our view is that you should aim to receive retirement income from a variety of sources such as your super, other non-super investments, such as term deposits and rent, and consider part-time or casual income which, put together, would achieve your desired level of after-tax income in retirement.

  Modest lifestyle - couple   Comfortable lifestyle - couple  
  Transport  
  Bus
$94.82		   Car
$140.02		  
  Food  
  Wine
$154.56		   Barbecue
$191.86		  
  Travel  
  Beach
$109.36		   Boats
$304.83		  
         

How many years of retirement can you expect?

On the whole we are living longer. Actuaries (financial specialists who calculate statistical probabilities based on facts and trends), have noted that life expectancy in Australia has been increasing steadily for some time.

Governments rely on actuarial calculations for planning purposes and, from time-to-time, the Government publishes life expectancy tables (below) to provide objective data to the public.

This calculator on the My Longevity website can help you find out more about your own life expectancy so you can understand how long your retirement savings may need to last.

Support and advice

If you need help planning for your retirement, contact one of our HOSTPLUS dedicated Industry Fund Financial Planning financial advisers today.


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