A sobering wake-up call for retirement in Australia

A sobering wake-up call for retirement in Australia

You might think things are going well for you now, but how confident are you that you will be ok when you retire?

Unfortunately, the reality is that if you aren’t being proactive with your financial circumstances then your outcomes may not be as positive as you would like.

We’ve put together some research on retirement in Australia and believe that it might give you a wake-up call if you haven’t started thinking about your financial future.

This isn’t something to ignore because the earlier you start, the better your chances are of making informed choices that will positively impact your retirement picture.

According to a recent study by the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), around 20% of Australians aged 55 to 64 have less than $100,000 in their superannuation accounts.

To be blunt, that’s not nearly enough to support a comfortable retirement.

ASFA estimates that a single person needs about $545,000, and a couple needs about $640,000 in super to enjoy a modest lifestyle in retirement.

The situation gets scarier when you read another report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) that found that nearly 40% of retirees rely on the Age Pension as their primary source of income.

The Age Pension is meant to be a safety net, not the main lifeline. With the full Age Pension providing only around $24,770 per year for singles and $37,341 for couples, it is clear that many Aussies are living on a very tight budget during their retirement years.

A survey conducted by the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) revealed that about 1 in 3 Australians don’t have any retirement plan in place. This lack of planning can lead to significant financial stress and a lower quality of life in retirement.

Furthermore, the same survey indicated that over 50% of Australians are worried they won’t have enough money to retire comfortably. That means a lot of potential sleepless nights for retirees.

You’ve also probably read about the gender pay gap in the news. But this issue also can have an alarming impact on retirement. Women, on average, retire with about 47% less superannuation than men. This discrepancy is due to several factors, including lower average wages for women, career breaks for child-rearing, and part-time work.

This gap means that many women are facing a significantly less secure financial future. In fact, mature women are sadly amongst the fastest growing group of homeless people in Australia today.

This paints a pretty grim picture. Without adequate planning and savings, many Australians are at risk of facing financial hardship in their later years.

It is a stark reminder that we need to take retirement planning seriously and start as early as possible. The longer your journey and the more you know about where you are currently heading, the more options you have to improve your destination.

Don’t let yourself become part of this statistic—start planning for your future today.

Call Finwell Group on (03) 9017 3235 or email better@finwellgroup.com.au for a no-obligation and complimentary initial review meeting valued at $249.

Now you’ve heard a sobering wake-up call for retirement in Australia, let’s see how retirement planning can help you prepare for a bright future.

The information in this article is general in nature and does not take your specific needs or circumstances into consideration, so you should look at your own financial position, objectives and requirements and seek financial advice before making any financial decisions.