Less than 10% of women report they are “well prepared” for their retirement while retirement satisfaction has declined for all categories, according to CoreData.
Research by the firm of 3,300 pre-retirees and 2,500 retirees found there was a three-point decline from 56 to 53/100 in its Best Possible Retirement index. This was attributed to a decline in retirement satisfaction which increased by 9%.
The number of retirees feeling worse off had risen from 19% in 2021 to 27% this year and fewer retirees were confident they would have sufficient savings to last the rest of their lives, falling from 35% to 29%.
Dissatisfaction was most significant among those in the later stages of retirement with 39% of those who retired over 10 years ago reporting they were dissatisfied.
In the case of pre-retirees, their preparations had been in steady decline since 2020 with 47% feeling unprepared, up from 41% last year. Just 14% said they were “well prepared” for their retirement.
This was worst for women in less than 10% saying they were “well prepared”.
Even among those who were close to retirement (less than five years), one in three said they were still not well prepared.
The number of pre-retirees who were confident they would have enough money to live well dropped from 56% to 52%.
CoreData founder, Andrew Inwood, said the findings demonstrated the need for urgency on development of retirement solutions.
“How Australians retire should not be determined by when they retire and what cycle the market is in, but rather draw on a range of consistent and reliable determinants which give Australians confidence and peace of mind in retirement.”
