{"id":894160,"date":"2026-09-16T14:16:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T14:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/894160\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T14:16:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T14:16:20","slug":"revealed-how-much-aussies-will-need-to-retire-comfortably-as-pensioners-hit-hard-by-cost-of-living-hike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/894160\/","title":{"rendered":"Revealed: How much Aussies will need to retire comfortably as pensioners hit hard by cost-of-living hike"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Australians will need tens of thousands of dollars every year to top up their pension if they want to retire comfortably, an updated guide has revealed amid a hike in cost-of-living pressures.<\/p>\n<p>The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) has released its updated Retirement Standard, saying the amount a couple who own their home needs annually for a &#8220;comfortable retirement&#8221; currently sits at $78,998.<\/p>\n<p>The maximum Age Pension for a couple is $47,070 annually, with the gap between retiring comfortably and a couple&#8217;s pension cap now $31,928.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement on Tuesday, the ASFA pointed to recent increases in costs for electricity, vehicle maintenance, medical services, insurance, hairdressing and meals out and takeaways \u2013 which it said made up a large share of retirees&#8217; spending.<\/p>\n<p>ASFA CEO Mary Delahunty said retirees are among the groups of Australians &#8220;hit hardest&#8221; by heightened cost-of-living pressures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSuper is the buffer between a life in which the bare essentials are covered by the Age Pension, and feeling comfortable and financially secure in retirement,\u201d Ms Delahunty said.<\/p>\n<p>A couple can currently receive a maximum of $905 per week via the Age Pension, meaning the payment would only cover around 60 per cent of what the ASFA considers a comfortable retirement.<\/p>\n<p>For single pensioners, the maximum Age Pension is $600 per week, compared to the $1,076 per week they would need to retire comfortably.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Age Pension is a social welfare net that guarantees no older Australian has to live in poverty. It was never designed to fund the kind of lifestyle in retirement that most Australians aspire to,&#8221; Ms Delahunty said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Super is the difference between watching every dollar and having a sense of financial security in retirement.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ms Delahunty said that at the &#8220;comfortable level&#8221;, a retired couple could afford top-level private health insurance, regular meals out and a domestic holiday annually, along with an international trip every few years.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They can run a good car that is regularly serviced. At the modest level, health cover is basic, probably a hospital plan only, holidays are domestic only, and you eat out very occasionally,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;On the Age Pension alone, most of these things drop out of your budget entirely.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Read related topics:<a class=\"topic_tag\" href=\"https:\/\/www.news24.com.au\/topics\/finance\" data-tgev-container=\"story-topic-links\" data-tgev-label=\"Finance\" data-tgev-order=\"1\" data-tgev-metric=\"npv\" data-tgev=\"event10\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Finance<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australians will need tens of thousands of dollars every year to top up their pension if they want&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":894161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[357778,463414,463427,463399,140769,146849,265749,463409,463421,463412,377373,463428,463404,406556,463411,463413,391196,419359,463420,386231,463396,376769,463405,463433,449793,91713,463430,64,27621,63,9461,99,32092,2610,463431,270295,32445,78059,19161,415240,419865,377399,1998,528,463432,463402,463425,31401,4631,463403,463422,1625,37912,272127,423736,197864,463401,57900,463417,1794,463419,102945,1881,20246,21321,463426,463395,15335,1793,1781,463416,376752,5939,1643,5792,52880,13615,24904,463400,463398,463394,379067,463418,463406,463424,413006,378647,86630,433396,395657,463397,463407,463434,463423,463415,385795,463410,28333,463408,14850,463429],"class_list":["post-894160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-357778","tag-463414","tag-463427","tag-463399","tag-140769","tag-146849","tag-265749","tag-463409","tag-463421","tag-a-comfortable-retirement","tag-a-couple","tag-a-domestic-holiday","tag-a-good-car","tag-a-hike","tag-a-hospital-plan","tag-a-large-share","tag-a-life","tag-a-maximum","tag-a-retired-couple","tag-a-sense","tag-a-social-welfare-net","tag-a-statement","tag-an-international-trip","tag-an-updated-guide","tag-around-60","tag-asfa","tag-asfa-ceo-mary-delahunty","tag-au","tag-aussies","tag-australia","tag-australians","tag-business","tag-cent","tag-cost-of-living","tag-cost-of-living-hike","tag-cost-of-living-pressures","tag-costs","tag-dollars","tag-electricity","tag-every-dollar","tag-every-few-years","tag-every-year","tag-financial-security","tag-getty-images","tag-hairdressing","tag-health-cover","tag-heightened-cost-of-living-pressures","tag-holidays","tag-insurance","tag-its-updated-retirement-standard","tag-jens-buttner-picture-alliance","tag-lifestyle","tag-meals","tag-medical-services","tag-most-australians","tag-ms-delahunty","tag-no-older-australian","tag-payment","tag-penison","tag-pension","tag-pension-cap","tag-pension-payments","tag-pensioners","tag-picture","tag-poverty","tag-recent-increases","tag-regular-meals","tag-retirees","tag-retirement","tag-savings","tag-single-pensioners","tag-snapp-breaking-or-general-news","tag-spending","tag-super","tag-superannuation","tag-superannuation-funds","tag-takeaways","tag-tens-of-thousands","tag-the-comfortable-level","tag-the-1","tag-the-age-pension","tag-the-amount","tag-the-asfa","tag-the-association","tag-the-bare-essentials","tag-the-buffer","tag-the-difference","tag-the-gap","tag-the-groups","tag-the-kind","tag-the-maximum-age-pension","tag-the-modest-level","tag-the-payment","tag-their-home-needs","tag-their-pension","tag-these-things","tag-top-level-private-health-insurance","tag-tuesday","tag-vehicle-maintenance","tag-week","tag-your-budget"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/894161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}