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Cost of comfortable retirement increasing
Those looking for a comfortable retirement have been given even more reason to boost their superannuation savings, following the release of the latest data compiled by the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) and Westpac.
The data, contained in the Westpac/ASFA Retirement Living Standard survey, revealed that the cost of funding a comfortable retirement had increased by an average of around $1,000 depending upon where you live in Australia.
According to the data, released late last week, the cost of comfortable living for a retired couple increased by 2.3 per cent to $46,192 a year with increases ranging from 2.2 per cent in Sydney and 4.5 per cent in Perth.
By comparison, the cost of a “modest” retirement lifestyle for a single female rose 2.5 per cent to $17,826 with the increase for a single female with a modest lifestyle being higher than that for a couple with a comfortable lifestyle, as those on a modest budget spend a greater proportion of their income on basic items.
The Westpac/ASFA survey rates a modest lifestyle in retirement as being “better than the age pension, but still only able to afford fairly basic activities” while a comfortable retirement lifestyle is rated as enabling an older healthy retiree to have a broad range of leisure activities and a good standard of living.
The bad news for retirees seeking to live frugally was that their position appeared to have been worsened by the increasing cost of basic necessities rather than the so-called “fund stuff” with food and health costs up by 3.6 per cent and 4.2 per cent respectively while prices on consumer goods such as audio and video equipment actual fell by over 6 per cent.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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