Retirement needs calculator

Assumptions

ASFA Assumptions

The figures provided are current as at the December quarter 2019 and are based on the ASFA Retirement Standard. The ASFA Retirement Standard benchmarks the annual budget needed by Australians to fund either a comfortable or modest standard of living in the post-work years. It is updated annually to reflect inflation and provides detailed budgets of what singles and couples would need to spend to support their chosen lifestyle.

The figures assume that the retiree(s) own their own home outright and are relatively healthy.

The difference between the comfortable and modest retirement lifestyle budgets mainly relates to the extra items included in the comfortable budget. These include items such as being able to update the kitchen or bathroom at some stage, some wine, eating out from time to time, being able to entertain family or friends at home, private health insurance at the top rate, purchasing magazines and CDs, an economy overseas holiday and being able to afford additional alcohol or purchase tobacco or make gifts.

Other Assumptions

• All amounts are in today’s dollars and are adjusted for an assumed annual inflation rate of 2%. In addition, a further annual increase of 1% is included to take into account the cost of meeting increases in community living standards. This means a total assumed inflation rate of 3% is allowed for. You can adjust that rate. Employer contributions increase with inflation.
• We assume that your super is invested in a balanced option. Investment returns can be adjusted above.
• Life expectancy is based on The Australian Life Tables which are produced by the Australian Government Actuary
• While ASFA updates their Modest and Comfortable living standard figures on a quarterly basis, in this calculator, figures are updated annually, with current figures from the "ASFA Retirement Standard December quarter 2019". This calculator has rounded up all figures to the nearest dollar.
• "Single" calculations are based on female figures

Disclaimer

Purpose and Assumptions

This calculator generates information illustrating how much money you could need in retirement and how this could be influenced by salary sacrifice or voluntary contributions. This is based on certain assumptions.

The assumptions used in this calculator are, in our opinion, reasonable for the purposes of working out the estimates. The assumptions are based on objective evidence on long-term net returns, fees, relevant economic forecasts and analysis on wages, prices and productivity.

With the exception of fixed statutory assumptions, you can alter investment return and inflation default assumptions to the extent that they can be reasonably expected to change. It should be noted that any change to the assumptions will apply for the whole of the calculation period. Any changes made to the default assumptions is likely to impact the final results. Over time small changes can have a significant impact on final results.

While we have made every effort to ensure these assumptions are reasonable, you should review them to match their own expectations/circumstances and not take them as the most appropriate assumption in all cases.

Limitations

Your retirement outcome will be affected by many things including the amount of contributions you make, fees, investment returns and regulatory changes. Some factors that may affect your retirement outcomes may not have been taken into account.

This is a Model, not a Prediction

The tool is not intended to be relied upon for the purposes of making a financial decision. Consider a fund’s PDS and your objectives, financial situation and needs, which are not accounted for in this information before making an investment decision. You are responsible for your own investment decisions and should obtain specific, individual advice from a financial services licensee before making any financial decisions.