A baby boomer fears that he will have to work until he dies because he does not have enough saved for retirement.
City planner Angus, 64, is still paying off his mortgage and has less than $3,000 to fund his retirement.
He said the stereotype of a boomer with lots of money doesn’t apply to him.
“I’m not rich. I depend on my own business for income because there’s no one else to give me work.” Angus told SBS Insight.
‘Right now, the best projections are that I will have to work until I am 75 to pay off the mortgage and other debts.’
Due to two costly divorces, Angus lost his home, his investment property and his stock portfolio.
‘At one point during my first marriage, we had an investment property and a stock portfolio.
‘I lost both my investment property, my house and my stock portfolio, and ended up with negative net worth.’
Angus, a 64-year-old developer, is still paying his mortgage and has almost no retirement funds.
A single pensioner needs $51,278 a year just to maintain his or her lifestyle, provided they have paid off their home, a figure that rises to a record $72,148 for couples, the Australian Superannuation Funds Association has revealed.
To meet this goal, someone earning a median income of $65,000 before taxes would need to have $220,000 in retirement savings by age 45.
For someone earning $90,000 a year, which is slightly less than the average full-time salary of $95,581, the required amount of retirement savings at age 45 is $176,000.
A single retiree needs $51,278 a year to maintain his or her lifestyle, provided he or she has paid off his or her home, a figure that rises to a record $72,148 for couples.
ASFA chief executive Mary Delahunty said high inflation was putting pressure on pensioners’ finances.
“Pensioners’ budgets have been under substantial pressure over the past two years due to the high cost of essential goods and services,” he said.
Insurance costs are a major burden on retirees’ finances: they rose 16.3 percent last year, electricity bills increased 6.9 percent and food prices rose 4.5 percent.