A couple aiming for a modest post-work life should budget $47,387.00 per year. It can be very difficult to make ends meet on the age pension – poverty in retirement is a real problem for 22% of Australian retirees – so building up even a modest nest egg is important.
According to Empower Personal DashboardTM data, the average retirement savings balance stands at $491,022, but the dollars differ by generation: Those 60 and older have the highest total balance across their accounts. Take a look at this chart showing the total retirement savings breakdown by age group.
With that being said, what is a wealthy retirement? Well, according to ASFA, a comfortable retirement for a couple is around $75,000 per year and $53,000 for a single person. Given this, I would consider achieving a retirement income of, say, 30% over these amounts to be a wealthy retirement.
Yes, retiring comfortably with $500,000 is achievable. This amount can support an annual withdrawal of up to $34,000, covering a 25-year period from age 60 to 85. If your lifestyle can be maintained at $30,000 per year or about $2,500 per month, then $500,000 should be sufficient for a secure retirement.
$1 million is enough for a comfortable retirement if you retire at age 65. This will provide a single person with an income of $60,000 p.a. and a couple with $77,000 p.a., including Age Pension for around 30 years, based on an investment return of 6% p.a. and 3.0% p.a. inflation.
Only around 3.1 per cent of households have very high total balances of over $2 million. Around 1.4 per cent or 142,000 households have more than $3 million in superannuation.
The top ten financial mistakes most people make after retirement are:
How many Americans have $500,000 in retirement savings? Of the 54.3% of U.S. households that have any money in retirement accounts, only about 9.3% have $500,000 or more in retirement savings.
Australians aged between 60-64 have an average super balance of $401,600 for men and $300,300 for women1. The Government Age Pension acts as a safety net to support the basic cost of living in retirement. However, it's still important to have a figure in mind as your ideal retirement savings goal.
The ASFA Retirement Standard suggests a single person can enjoy a 'comfortable lifestyle' on around $51,000 a year while a couple would need around $72,000 for the same standard of living.
An $800,000 portfolio for retirement could be considered sufficient, particularly if there is substantial income from sources like Social Security. This is especially true if your expenses are low and you don't have significant healthcare costs.
There were 1,918,618 total retirement accounts (including employer-sponsored plans and individually controlled IRA savings and investment accounts) with balances of at least $1 million as of September 30, 2025. The average account balance for these retirement millionaires was $2,388,409 as of September 30, 2025.
A good rule of thumb is to grow your nest egg to a level where you can live off a 4% annual withdrawal rate. For example, if your nest egg is $1 million, you should be able to spend $40,000 each year and never run out of money. You'd build a bigger nest egg if you needed more money to live comfortably in retirement.
With careful planning, $750,000 can last 25 to 30 years or more in retirement. Your actual results will depend on how much you spend, how your investments perform, and whether you have other income.
In the organisation's super balance update, it found 2.5 per cent of the population have a super account of more than $1 million, as of June 2021. This represents 417,567 individuals, ASFA said, and is a 29 per cent increase from the 322,200 individuals who held over $1 million in June 2019.
The short answer: to retire on $80,000 a year in Australia, you'll need a super balance of roughly between $700,000 and $1.4 million. It's a broad range, and that's because everyone's circumstances are different.
Financial Preparedness
To retire at 55, most people need at least 25–30 times their annual expenses saved. You may rely on taxable brokerage accounts early on, since 401(k) and IRA withdrawals before age 59½ typically trigger a penalty.
According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, just 1.8% of U.S. households have $2 million or more saved in retirement accounts. That's based on the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances, conducted by the Federal Reserve.
Take a look to see if any sound familiar.
According to Wealth and Society, while there aren't any legal definitions of wealth, there are some widely accepted ranges: High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) have an investable net worth of $1 million to $5 million. Very High Net Worth Individuals (VHNWI) have an investable net worth of $5 million to $30 million.
Retirement Regrets: Top 15 Things Retirees Wish They Had Done Differently
Here are some of our favorite ideas for what to do in retirement:
The golden rule of saving 15% of your pre-tax income for retirement serves as a starting point, but individual circumstances and factors must also be considered.