“$690,000 needed to have a comfortable retirement for a couple”

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) has published (reflective as at June 2024) that to have a comfortable retirement for a couple, they would need $690,000 of superannuation at age 67 combined to achieve this. They define a comfortable retirement as living off of $73,337 per year, inclusive of things like health insurance to holidays and everything in between.

I think this number is okay as a guide ONLY. This number and situation really looks at retirement as a straight line – meaning that both members of a couple are age 67, both members stop working at the same point being 67 and live off the same amount each year until their statistical life expectancy’s. What you need for retirement I find differs greatly from person to person. Things like someone’s health, life experiences or goals will change what is needed.

Just to throw a scenario that isn’t a straight line which I have tried to put simply (not taking into account returns whether negative or positive) - a couple with $400,000 in superannuation might want to retire at 63 and go on 1 big overseas holiday every year and will spend $100,000 per year inclusive of living expenses and holidays for 4 years (until age 67), which at that age, they might have a large home that they may downsize to free up some equity to further support maybe a more modest/comfortable lifestyle in retirement. So, in their minds working until age 67 and saving towards $690,000 in combined superannuation was never in their plans.

If you have different goals/aspirations or questions about your own individual situation, feel free to contact me and we can work together to build a road map to plan your retirement as best we can.