‘Hardest hit’: Retirees’ costs soar as cost of living bites hard 
Australians hoping to achieve even a comfortable retirement have been dealt a blow as cost-of-living pressures bite hard.   


News.com.au
September 16, 2026

Retirees are among the hardest hit by rising cost of living, with an expert warning workers will need an eye-watering amount of money just for a comfortable retirement.

The Association of Super Funds Australia (ASFA) has increased its calculations for how much workers will need when they retire.

According to the latest figures, a couple would need $730,000 in their superannuation by age 67 in order to achieve a comfortable retirement, while a single person would need at least $630,000.

This would give the couple $78,998 a year in spending money, while the single person would have $56,166.

Australians now need at least $56,166 annually in retirement as cost of living hits hard.

In both instances, the ASFA assumes the retiree owns their own home.

The revised figures show a couple would need an extra $40,000 in their super balance at retirement, while a single person needs an extra $35,000.

ASFA chief executive Mary Delahunty said cost-of-living pressures were hitting retirees harder than the broader population.

“Retirees are among the groups hit hardest by the cost-of-living crisis because their budgets are weighted towards the things going up in price the most,” she said.

Super does the work, pension covers the basics


According to the latest ASFA figures, superannuation is helping older Australians achieve a higher standard of living compared to what they otherwise would.

The maximum age pension is $905 a week for a couple and $600 for a single, figures that will rise slightly on September 20.

The age pension is adjusted twice a year in line with what pensioners actually spend, so someone living on the pension alone is broadly protected from price rises.

The full age pension covers about 60 per cent of a comfortable retirement for a couple and about 56 per cent for a single.

Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia chief executive Mary Delahunty says superannuation is increasing living standards in retirement.

Ms Delahunty said most of a basic retirement could be covered by a pension, but superannuation helped workers feel more comfortable and financially secure.

“At the comfortable level, a couple can afford top-level private health insurance, eat out most weeks, take a domestic holiday each year and an overseas trip every few years,” she said.

“They can run a good car that is regularly serviced. At the modest level, health cover is basic, probably a hospital plan only. Holidays are domestic only, and you eat out very occasionally.”

“On the age pension alone, most of these things drop out of your budget entirely.” 


Reducing the burden on taxpayers

The ASFA also says superannuation is doing its job of reducing the overall tax burden on Australian taxpayers.

It points out age pension spending has fallen from about 2.6 per cent of GDP to about 2.3 per cent even as the population has aged, and Treasury projects it will fall below 2 per cent by 2066 because of super.

“With super at 12 per cent of wages, the average worker earning $110,000 is finally on track to retire at the comfortable standard,” Ms Delahunty said.

“Any erosion of 12 per cent super would undo the gains our country has made on working Australians retiring with dignity.   


Ms Delahunty took a thinly veiled swipe at pledged policies that would raid superannuation, such as the Coalition’s plan to use it for housing or One Nation’s proposal of taking 3 per cent a year off compulsory superannuation to pay bills today.   

“The cost-of-living and housing crises need their own solutions,” Ms Delahunty said.

“Forcing Australians to solve them by robbing from their own future selves is not a helping hand. It is a worse deal than previous generations had.”