The amount needed for retirees to fund their post-work lifestyle continues to increase, albeit slowly, according to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) Retirement Standard.
A couple looking to achieve a comfortable retirement will need to spend $55,316 a year, while those seeking a ‘modest’ retirement lifestyle need to spend $31,767 a year, according to figures from the September quarter – an increase of 0.7 per cent from June 2011.
Retiree households on average have somewhat different spending patterns to the rest of the population, ASFA said.
"Along with generally owning their own home outright, they don’t tend to spend as much on education services," ASFA stated. "In contrast, food, health, transportation and recreation spending form a large part of retiree budgets."
Despite a slight decrease in cost of food in the September quarter, there was an increase of 6.4 per cent over the year to September 2011.
