A baby boomer fears he will have to work until he dies because he doesn’t have enough money saved in superannuation.
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 cashed-up boomer does not apply to him.
‘I’m not wealthy. I’m dependent on my own business for income because there’s nobody else who will give me a job,’ Angus told SBS Insight.
‘At this stage, best projections are I’m going to have to work until 75 to pay off the mortgage and other debt.’
Angus said two costly divorces had been a huge setback for his retirement plans.
‘At one stage, with my first marriage, we had an investment property and a share portfolio,’ he said.
‘I lost both the investment property, the house and the share portfolio, and came out with negative net worth.’
Angus, a 64-year-old city planner, is still paying off his mortgage and has almost no superannuation.
A single retiree needs $51,278 a year just to maintain their lifestyle, provided they have paid off their home, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia has revealed. That figure rises to $72,148 for couples.
To reach this goal, someone earning a median income of $65,000 before tax should have $220,000 in superannuation savings by age 45.
For someone earning $90,000 a year, which is slightly below the average full-time salary of $95,581, the required amount of retirement savings by age 45 is $176,000.
ASFA chief executive Mary Delahunty said high inflation was putting pressure on retiree finances.
‘Retiree budgets have been under substantial pressure for the past two years due to the high cost of essential goods and services,’ she said.
Insurance costs are a major drain on retiree finances, surging by 16.3 per cent last year as electricity bills rose by 6.9 per cent and food prices climbed by 4.5 per cent.