Member spotlight: Lelis D’Souza
Lelis D’Souza had joined Qantas in 1993 after arriving in Perth from India, working in customer service at the airport.
Women generally live longer and retire with less super than their male counterparts. As we join the International Women’s Day #pushforprogress we turn the spotlight on women and super, looking at how much women will need for a comfortable retirement.
Couple | Single | |
---|---|---|
Housing | $121.61 | $116.33 |
Energy | $59.39 | $47.89 |
Food | $202.07 | $116.26 |
Communications | $30.87 | $23.72 |
Household goods and services | $90.51 | $73.56 |
Clothing and footwear | $50.65 | $27.20 |
Transport | $156.87 | $144.60 |
Health services | $184.97 | $98.81 |
Leisure | $271.20 | $181.46 |
Total weekly expenditure | $1,168.13 | $829.82 |
Total annual expenditure | $60,977 | $43,317 |
Super savings required (with part age pension) | $640,000 | $545,000 |
Understanding how much you’ll need to cover living expenses is the first step in retirement planning, but there are some other factors to consider.
Even with the best planning in place, there is still the chance you may outlive your savings. The timing around when you take retirement, can make a significant difference to the amount of savings you retire with — especially true if you’re looking to fund your retirement with a lump sum payment from your super.
Retirement planning can be complicated, but getting the right advice can help you create a plan to minimise your exposure to these risks and give you the confidence that you’re on the right track to reach your financial goals
1Australian Bureau of Statistics: Life Tables, States, Territories and Australia, 2014-2016
2The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia Limited (ASFA): Superannuation account balances by age and gender
3Australian Bureau of Statistics: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, January 2018, cat. no. 6291.0
4The Workplace Gender Equality Agency WGEA Data Explorer, 2017
5Australian Bureau of Statistics: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, January 2018, cat.no. 6291.0
6Australian Bureau of Statistics: Average Weekly Earnings, Nov 2017, cat. no. 6302.0
7Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia: Retirement Standard benchmark
Lelis D’Souza had joined Qantas in 1993 after arriving in Perth from India, working in customer service at the airport.
Until you’re on the home stretch with just a couple of years to go, retirement can seem more like an abstract concept rather than something you’ll actually reach. That feeling can then make it difficult to want to put time into understanding your super and how it’s going to work for you in retirement.
Like many things when it comes to your finances, the amount of super you need to live out your retirement dreams depends on your personal circumstances and the goals you have for your time after work.