(For everyday Australians who want clarity—not fluff.)
Let me ask you something… How much do you think you’ll need to retire comfortably? $1 million? $2 million? More? Most people I talk to don’t actually know. They’re just hoping that by the time retirement comes around, their super will have done “enough.” But here’s the truth: Retirement isn’t just about how much you’ve saved… It’s about how long it needs to last
— and how well you want to live. So today, I’m going to break down the real cost of retirement in Australia and the 3 biggest mistakes people make that leave them broke, stressed, or working far longer than they wanted to.
THE COST OF AVERAGE RETIREMENT
According to the ASFA Retirement Standard, to live a “comfortable” retirement in Australia
today for A single person needs about $51,000 per year A couple needs around $72,000 per
year.
Now, multiply that by a 25-year retirement (if you retire at 65 and live to 90): That’s $1.275
million for a single person And $1.8 million for a couple just to maintain lifestyle, not luxury.
And here’s the catch… That assumes that You’re debt-free, You’re not supporting adult children, You’re healthy And you’re not hit by inflation shocks, like we’ve seen over the last few years. So if your superannuation is sitting at $300K or $400K… You’re not retiring — you’re downsizing your lifestyle.
THE RETIREMENT TRAPS NO ONE TALKS ABOUT
Now, here are the 3 big traps most people fall into:
Trap #1 – Relying on the Age Pension
The full pension is around $1,000 per fortnight per person or about $26,000 a year.
Can you live off that?
Sure if you like cutting medication in half, skipping holidays, and budgeting your heating bill.
It’s not enough, and it was never designed to fully support people.
Trap #2 – Believing Super Will Handle It
Superannuation is a tax structure not a plan.
If you don’t contribute enough, if it’s poorly invested, or if you retire too early, you’ll burn
through it fast.
And once it’s gone… the pension is all that’s left.
Trap #3 – Forgetting Inflation
What costs $60K a year today might cost $90K+ in 20 years.
If you’re not building income that grows with inflation, you’ll fall behind — fast.
WHAT I TELL CLIENTS WHO FEEL BEHIND
I meet people all the time in their 40s, 50s, even early 60s — who tell me:
“John, I’ve left it too late.” (OR USE THE STORY FROM THE SEMINAR THE OLD LADY )
No. You haven’t. You just haven’t had a strategy. You’ve been surviving, not structuring.
Here’s what I help them do:
● Review their home loan
● Identify unused equity
● Use tax-smart investment structures
● Create cash flow-generating assets
● And eliminate non-deductible debt as fast as possible
Because here’s the truth:
You don’t need to save $2 million in cash.
You need to replace your income.
And you need a plan that helps your money grow even after you retire
WHAT IT ACTUALLY TAKES TO RETIRE WELL
Here’s a quick example…
Let’s say you want $70,000 per year in retirement, and you want that to last 25 years.To do that
without touching the capital, you’d need assets generating:
● 5% yield = $1.4 million
● 7% yield = $1 million
But if you structure your money correctly through offset strategies, smart debt recycling, and
tax-efficient property or income streams, you don’t need to rely only on super or savings.
You can let your structure do the heavy lifting and not your back.