Will your retirement savings last long enough to support your chosen lifestyle?

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia's (ASFA) Retirement Standard benchmarks the annual budget needed by Australians to fund the lifestyle they expect to live during retirement. It calculates the cost of a 'modest' or 'comfortable' retirement lifestyle based on the current cost of living, giving you a clear and realistic savings target for retirement.

AFSA's Retirement Standard is updated quarterly to reflect inflation. Since its launch in 2004, the Standard has also been revised to reflect changes in retirees' lifestyle expectations and their evolving spending patterns.

What's the difference between a modest and a comfortable lifestyle?

A modest retirement lifestyle is one that can fund basic activities, but is still considered better than the Commonwealth government's Age Pension.

A comfortable retirement lifestyle allows an older, healthy retiree to participate in a range of leisure and recreational activities. It affords the purchase of items such as household goods, private health insurance, a decent car, good clothes, a variety of electronic equipment and occasional international travel.

ASFA Retirement Standard figures

ASFA's Retirement Standard provides detailed budgets of what singles and couples would spend each year to fund their chosen lifestyle. The budgets relate to household expenditure and assume that retirees own their home.

According to ASFA, a single person aged around 65¹ living a modest lifestyle would spend around $35,503 a year, while couples would spend $51,299.

For singles and couples around the same age living a comfortable lifestyle, these amounts increase to $54,840 and $77,375 a year, respectively.

To reflect the different priorities and spending patterns of older retirees, there are separate budget guidelines for those aged around 85². For this group of retirees, a single person living a modest lifestyle would spend around $33,470 a year, while couples would spend $47,999 a year. For singles and couples around the same age living a comfortable lifestyle, these amounts increase to $52,235 and $72,093 a year, respectively.

For the full ASFA Retirement Standard report and detailed budget breakdowns, visit the ASFA website. To check out what budget you are likely to need in retirement, use the ASFA Retirement Standard Calculator.

How to maximise your savings

A study conducted by ASFA^1,2 revealed that Australian retirees may face an income shortfall if they depend on their employer's super contributions alone. To save for a more comfortable retirement, it's important to add to your super if you can afford to.

Here are a few tips on how you can maximise your retirement savings:

• Super tax concessions: if you are still working, take advantage of super tax concessions through salary sacrifice. You'll benefit from having more money to invest, less tax on earnings and a reduction in income tax
• Change your investment plan: revisit your investment plan for your GESB Super, West State Super or Retirement Income Pension account. You can choose from our Readymade plans with different levels of risk and return, or pick your own mix of assets to invest in with Mix Your plan
• Extra contributions: pay an extra portion of your before-tax or after-tax income into your super account. If you are approaching retirement, you may want to make as many contributions as you can
• Roll in: if you have accounts with other super providers, consider combining your funds into one account. This will reduce your fees and help you keep track of your savings
• Find lost super: track down your super from previous employers. This is important to avoid your super being transferred to the Australian Taxation Office and may result in additional funds for your retirement
• Use our educational tools:  you'll feel more comfortable about where you're headed in retirement with some knowledge behind you. See our fact sheets or register for one of our transition to retirement or retirement planning seminars. If you need more complex advice, our article Choose the right advice for your retirement, has information to help you find an external adviser

More information

To view details of each of our investment plans, visit our investment and performance section. Here you can use interactive graphs and charts to easily compare plans and access information to help you make a more informed choice on how to invest your money.

For more information, visit the how to grow your retirement savings section of this website.

1 The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), Retirement Standard, aged around 67, December quarter 2025.
2 The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), Retirement Standard, aged over 85, December quarter 2025.