Not many people do it until it’s too late, but it’s important to consider early what a comfy, and happy, retirement would look like to you.
Is it a lot or a little socialising? Hobbies, old and new? Travel and if so, where to? What’s your appetite for eating out?
Think about what you want and how you spend, so you can have a wholesome retirement, not just a “modest” one.Credit: Louise Kennerley
How much this would all cost you in any given year is key to determining the lump sum you should be shooting for in retirement. It’s an important and individual thing, with no one size fits all answer.
Having said that, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia gives us a guide. It has defined the features of a modest and a comfortable retirement, in an often hotly contested template.
Last week it revealed the latest numbers are up 3.5 per cent over the past three months so, if there is a thin silver lining, a little less than inflation at 4.1 per cent.
Home and contents insurance constitutes the highest extra hit to retirees’ hip pockets currently, 16.2 per cent up for the year.
Electricity has been contained at just 6.9 per cent, down from the 14.5 per cent increase in bills in the 12 months to September, showing that energy bill relief fund rebates have been somewhat effective.
Then food inflation is 4.5 per cent, again down from the peak of 9.2 per cent in December 2022, but not insignificant.
How much a year of semi-fun retirement now costs
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15.03.2024
Not many people do it until it’s too late, but it’s important to consider early what a comfy, and happy, retirement would look like to you.
Is it a lot or a little socialising? Hobbies, old and new? Travel and if so, where to? What’s your appetite for eating out?
Think about what you want and how you spend, so you can have a wholesome retirement,........
© The Sydney Morning Herald
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