How much super you'll need
It’s hard to know how much super you’ll need and how long you might need it for - but we’re here to help.
If you want to keep enjoying your current lifestyle when you retire, research suggests you’ll need to save enough to provide you with at least 70% of your current annual income.
The cost of a moderate or comfortable retirement
The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) reports regularly on the annual cost for singles and couples to achieve either:
- A ‘modest’ retirement - which is better than relying on the Commonwealth Government’s Age Pension alone, but only allows for fairly basic activities
- A ‘comfortable’ retirement - which represents a good standard of living with enough to spend on a range of leisure activities and household goods, private health insurance, a reasonable car, good clothes, a range of electronic equipment and some travel
Based on ASFA research1, here are the estimated budgets for various households and living standards for people aged around 67.
| Living standard | Single annual cost | Couple annual cost |
|---|---|---|
Modest | $32,665.66 | $46,994.28 |
Comfortable | $51,278.30 | $72,148.19 |
As you get older, the budgets change.
Find out if you’ll have enough retirement savings
By using the information above as a guide, you can get an idea of whether your current savings will be enough, or whether you need to take action to grow your retirement savings.
Try our Retirement planning calculator for an estimate of how much you'll have when you retire, and how long it will last. You can adjust a range of variables, such as extra contributions, and see what the difference will be by the time you retire.
1 The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), Retirement Standard, aged around 67, September quarter 2023.
More information
- Find out more about cost of living in retirement
- Learn about how to grow your super
- Try our Retirement planning calculator
- ASFA Retirement Standard
Thank you for printing this page. Remember to come back to gesb.wa.gov.au for the latest information as our content is updated regularly. This information is correct as at 27 April 2024.