“My husband is 74, and I’m 68. We own our home and have around $400,000 in super. We receive the full Age Pension and live off that for our regular bills. When something comes up — car repairs, holidays — we take money out of super. This amounts to about $20,000 a year. Are we going to be okay?”
That’s the question Judy asked. And it’s one we hear often.
Because it’s not always easy to know. There’s no single number that tells you everything’s fine. Retirement is full of moving parts — the Age Pension, super drawdowns, rising living costs, unexpected expenses — and even when things feel like they’re going well, many people wonder if they’re missing something.
So we helped Judy to find out.
Running the numbers
Together, she and her husband Andy had $400,000 in Account-Based Pensions (ABPs). Their Age Pension entitlement was $45,037 a year — the full rate for a couple who own their home. On top of that, they were drawing about $20,000 from super each year — bringing their total income in retirement to around $65,000 annually.
Using the Retirement Essentials retirement forecasting tool, we looked at how things might unfold. If they continue to spend at that level, our projections show they’re likely to be okay — all the way through their later years. By the time Judy turns 95 — and her husband reaches an impressive 101 — they’re still expected to have around $38,000 remaining in super and investments.
In short? Things look reassuring.
But we didn’t stop there.
