Page 4 - FWP Wealth-Adviser-Issue-121 (FWP)

ISSUE 121
SEPTEMBER 2025

RETHINKING

RETIREMENT

HOW MUCH IS

ENOUGH FOR

A FULFILLING

FUTURE?
Nattanan Kanchanaprat/pixabay.com

BY WEALTH ADVISER The numbers, rules of thumb, and official standards can
seem remote or arbitrary, with many Australians content to
Introduction: The Perennial Retirement trust default super fund settings without deeper exploration
Question of their actual retirement needs. The use of retirement
It is a simple question with an answer we probably don’t needs calculators and modelling tools, now widely available
want to hear. In Australia—a country where superannua- from super funds and financial institutions, is helping
tion is compulsory—most workers accept that saving for address this by giving individuals a more personal estimate
retirement is part of life. Yet, when it comes to the perennial of what they will need and what they will have.
question of “how much is enough?”, the conversation is
shadowed by uncertainty, disengagement, and even apathy. The Standards and Rules of Thumb: How Much
Recent AMP research shows that two in three Australians Do Australians Really Need?
under 40 believe they need more wealth to feel financially Australians looking for clarity often turn to guides such
confident about retirement, while less than one in twelve as the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia
feel secure and independent. As Morningstar observes, one (ASFA) Retirement Standard. This benchmark provides
downside of the compulsory aspect of super is the evidence detailed budgets for “modest” and “comfortable” retire-
that many Australians are disengaged from their own ment lifestyles and has been widely adopted by advisers,
retirement outcomes. Government, and industry.

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