Kaye Fallick

Kaye is a retirement commentator and coach, with 25 years’ experience writing about retirement income. She has authored two books on life stage changes – Get a New Life and What Next? – and enjoys regular radio and podcast appearances. Her favourite mission is to offer plain English explanations of complex rules so that all retirees can benefit. She is based in Melbourne but enjoys escaping to Italy whenever possible.
Retirement sums made easy: What’s your optimal number?

Retirement sums made easy: What’s your optimal number?

by |

Steve has a very clear vision of his ideal retirement. A divorced 65-year old with a modest home and $75,000 mortgage, he has no difficulty articulating what life will be like when he leaves full time work. He wants to volunteer, work part-time as a mechanic and enjoy some weekends away with friends from his local Rotary club.

But what eludes him is the magic number that he needs to have saved to ensure he can achieve these plans within a couple of years. And not spend decades worrying about whether his savings will run out.

Funnily enough, there’s just one number that can help Steve to understand the longevity of his money. And that’s his own likely lifespan. Here’s how a few simple sums, based on Steve’s likely longevity, were able to set his mind at rest.

Because Steve is a member of Retirement Essentials he has access to the member portal where he can use all calculators for free. First up we encouraged him to do his own initial research by using the Retirement Essentials Life Expectancy calculator which is in the retirement planning section of the members’ portal. This simple tool requires just three things:  your birthdate, relationship status and gender.

If inflation is so low, how come you’re feeling worse off?

If inflation is so low, how come you’re feeling worse off?

by |

Do you have the checkout blues? Every time you head to the supermarket, you’re gobsmacked at how much everything costs? Who knew a lemon would be $1.10? You probably remember when you could buy five for that amount of money. Yet we’re told that inflation is coming down – so how can your household expenditure be going up? Are you doing something wrong? 

Today we’re exploring the recent movements in our cost of living and how retirees, in particular, are affected. And, most importantly, what you can do if you feel you’re going backwards. 

The reason we’re exploring this topic, according to recent research, is that there has been a fundamental shift in retiree sentiments. For years the main concern that retirees have held is that ‘they don’t have enough’ or ‘they will last longer than their savings do’. (We’ve written many times on these topics). But the most recent findings by financial services company, Challenger are that retirees are now most worried about the rising cost of living, with over seven in ten (72%) Australians aged 60+ reporting that this factor has had at least some adverse impact on their financial security. And just over one-third (34%) admitting that the impact was significant.

This compares with fewer than half (40%) who are worried about running out of money in retirement.

Some brief definitions:

What do we mean when we talk about cost of living?

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), this is the expense Australians incur to buy the goods and services that are necessary to maintain a certain standard of living.

How does your super compare?

How does your super compare?

by |

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) quietly released some statistics end June. I say quietly because this data is really interesting. And useful for individual retirees keen to understand their overall financial standing.

The data is somewhat ponderously called the Individuals statistics for Taxation statistics 2022–23 and is buried in amongst a lot of other statistics on tax paid in Financial Year 2022-23. Reproduced below are the two pieces of information that matter most: a table of median super balances by age and gender and the same information represented in a chart. 

I have chosen to highlight the median balances (as opposed to the average) because median amounts offer a much more useful benchmark than averages. That’s because the average super balances can’t help but be skewed higher by the 135+ people holding more than 10 million in their super account. One individual has a balance of 534 million! So using averages is just not useful. As a refresher on high school maths, a median amount represents the middle value in a set of numbers, with half (in this case, super accounts) being lower, and half being higher. So it’s the midway point and that’s what makes it such a useful yardstick.

Here are the most recent individual balances, published in late June 2025 by the ATO.