Services - Retirement Strategies
What are the facts?
- The age pension is currently $11,772 per year for a single person and $19,656 for a couple.
- Two-thirds of retirees rely on the pension as their main source of income.
- More than a quarter of all Australians over 65 have an income below the OECD poverty threshold.
- The age pension in Australia is one of the lowest in the developed world when compared with national average earnings (New Zealand’s basic pension is worth 80% more).
- The average retirement income in Australia is $1917 per month while household expenses average $1437 a month.
- More than a third of retirees return to work due to financial needs.
Will your super be enough?
Most people will need 65 per cent of their pre-retirement income to maintain their current lifestyle in retirement. So for a person who earns $60,000 a year, they will need $39,000 a year when they retire.
These assumptions are based on:
- Retirement age of 65
- 3% rate of inflation
- Investment return of 7% (after fees & tax)
- Average life expectancy
Do you need to invest?
The age pension was not designed to provide a replacement for the income achieved over a working life. Most people must borrow to invest if they are to retire comfortably. At AFPS, we will show you how to safely leverage an investment for this purpose. Australia’s superannuation funds experienced real losses of 26.7% in 2008. We advise all our clients to diversify their retirement income stream and not rely solely on super.
