- Couples need up to $55k a year for retirement
- Annual income needs are up $1000, and rising
- Phone companies told to get real on bills
THE average Australian couple will need between $31,500 and $55,000 a year to maintain their lifestyle in retirement following a jump in living costs of more than $1000 during the past year.
According to the latest superannuation pension and retirement forecasts released yesterday, $31,500 a year will pay for a "modest" lifestyle while $55,000 will provide a "comfortable" retirement.
The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia report to June 2011 shows increased costs have pushed up annual income requirements by more than $1000 in the past year, with food, transport and health costs continuing to rise.
Association chief executive Pauline Vamos said retiree households spent differently to the wider population, with a greater outlay on food, health, transport and recreation.
"Between the March and June quarters retirees faced a 1.4 per cent increase in the cost of food and over the year to June the increase was 6.1 per cent," Ms Vamos said.
The latest statistics also included estimates on how much of a lump sum or nest egg retirees would need to provide top-up income to boost their age pensions.
For a modest lifestyle, a couple would need a lump sum of only $35,000 to provide enough extra income on top of the full $29,400 government age pension.
For a comfortable lifestyle, however, a couple would need a lump sum of $510,000, as they would only qualify for a part-age pension.
Yesterday, the Australian Prudential and Regulation Authority reported that the nation's superannuation pool had increased 10.9 per cent to $1.34 trillion during the year.
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