1 In 4 Australians Don’t Have Enough Super Or Assets To Retire
A comfortable retirement in Australia costs $70,806 per annum for couples and $50,207 for singles
2 min
Almost one in four Australians say they do not have enough superannuation or other investments to get by in retirement, according to a survey by Finder. When extrapolated to a population level, this indicates that 4.6 million people are facing up to a financially difficult future.
A further 27% said they were not sure if they would have enough in superannuation to retire. Just 17% said they were confident they would have enough wealth for retirement, while a further 22% said they would have enough in super but would cut back on spending.
One in 10 said their superannuation balance was too low but they had other investments that would provide enough income or capital to fund their retirement.
“Superannuation is something many Australians, including the younger demographic, don’t engage in enough,” said Sarah Megginson, Finder’s money expert. “It can be a sad case of ‘too little too late’ for many who realise that by the time they reach retirement age, their super balance will fall well short of the amount of money they will need.”
According to the Australian Retirement Standard, a ‘comfortable’ retirement costs $70,806 per annum for couples and $50,207 for singles. A modest lifestyle costs $45,946 and $31,867, respectively. The superannuation balances required for a comfortable retirement are $690,000 for couples and $595,000 for singles by age 67. For a modest lifestyle, both couples and singles need a superannuation balance of $100,000.
Currently, the full pension including supplements is $42,988 per annum for couples and $28,514 for singles. However, income and asset tests apply. A couple with their own home is eligible for the full pension if their combined assets (excluding their home) are worth less than $451,500 and they earn an annual income below $9,360. If they do not own a home, the threshold is $693,500. For a single homeowner, the asset limit is $301,750 and the income limit is $5,304. For single non-homeowners, the asset threshold is $543,750.
Ms Megginson said Australians needed to assess their superannuation carefully. “First, it’s essential to know how much you have in super and to consolidate your funds,” she said. “You pay fees for each fund you have – it’s like having your savings split across three savings accounts and paying account-keeping fees on all of them.”
Ms Megginson suggested workers contribute to their super through salary sacrifice or voluntary lump-sum payments. An earlier Finder survey conducted in June 2022 found 46% of Australians do not make additional contributions to super. In FY23 and FY24, taxpayers are allowed to contribute a total of $27,500 per annum concessionally (meaning less tax) incorporating compulsory super paid by their employers and other payments and benefits.
“For instance, if you salary sacrifice $1,000 over 12 months, you’d pay $150 on that income and $850 will go to super where it will be invested for your future. Otherwise, you’ll pay $325 tax on that money and have $675 in your bank account. Any income earned within your super is capped at a maximum tax rate of 15% per annum. If you currently pay say 32.5% tax, you’re ahead immediately.”
Megginson warned workers to compare their super fund’s fees to other super funds. “Make sure you aren’t stuck in a fund charging exorbitant fees and check regularly that your employer is paying your 11% Superannuation Guarantee contributions on time.”
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The lunar flyby would be the deepest humans have traveled in space in decades.
4 min
It’s go time for the highest-stakes mission at NASA in more than 50 years.
On April 1, the agency is set to launch four astronauts around the moon, the deepest human spaceflight since the final Apollo lunar landing in 1972.
The launch window for Artemis II , as the mission is called, opens at 6:24 p.m. ET.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration teams have been preparing the vehicles to depart from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on the planned roughly 10-day trip. Crew members have trained for years for this moment.
Reid Wiseman, the NASA astronaut serving as mission commander, said he doesn’t fear taking the voyage. A widower, he does worry at times about what he is putting his daughters through.
“I could have a very comfortable life for them,” Wiseman said in an interview last September.
“But I’m also a human, and I see the spirit in their eyes that is burning in my soul too. And so we’ve just got to never stop going.”
Wiseman’s crewmates on Artemis II are NASA’s Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
What are the goals for Artemis II?
The biggest one: Safely fly the crew on vehicles that have never carried astronauts before.
The towering Space Launch System rocket has the job of lofting a vehicle called Orion into space and on its way to the moon.
Orion is designed to carry the crew around the moon and back. Myriad systems on the ship—life support, communications, navigation—will be tested with the astronauts on board.
SLS and Orion don’t have much flight experience. The vehicles last flew in 2022, when the agency completed its uncrewed Artemis I mission .
How is the mission expected to unfold?
Artemis II will begin when SLS takes off from a launchpad in Florida with Orion stacked on top of it.
The so-called upper stage of SLS will later separate from the main part of the rocket with Orion attached, and use its engine to set up the latter vehicle for a push to the moon.
After Orion separates from the upper stage, it will conduct what is called a translunar injection—the engine firing that commits Orion to soaring out to the moon. It will fly to the moon over the course of a few days and travel around its far side.
Orion will face a tough return home after speeding through space. As it hits Earth’s atmosphere, Orion will be flying at 25,000 miles an hour and face temperatures of 5,000 degrees as it slows down. The capsule is designed to land under parachutes in the Pacific Ocean, not far from San Diego.
Is it possible Artemis II will be delayed?
Yes.
For safety reasons, the agency won’t launch if certain tough weather conditions roll through the Cape Canaveral, Fla., area. Delays caused by technical problems are possible, too. NASA has other dates identified for the mission if it doesn’t begin April 1.
Who are the astronauts flying on Artemis II?
The crew will be led by Wiseman, a retired Navy pilot who completed military deployments before joining NASA’s astronaut corps. He traveled to the International Space Station in 2014.
Two other astronauts will represent NASA during the mission: Glover, an experienced Navy pilot, and Koch, who began her career as an electrical engineer for the agency and once spent a year at a research station in the South Pole. Both have traveled to the space station before.
Hansen is a military pilot who joined Canada’s astronaut corps in 2009. He will be making his first trip to space.
Koch’s participation in Artemis II will mark the first time a woman has flown beyond orbits near Earth. Glover and Hansen will be the first African-American and non-American astronauts, respectively, to do the same.
What will the astronauts do during the flight?
The astronauts will evaluate how Orion flies, practice emergency procedures and capture images of the far side of the moon for scientific and exploration purposes (they may become the first humans to see parts of the far side of the lunar surface). Health-tracking projects of the astronauts are designed to inform future missions.
Those efforts will play out in Orion’s crew module, which has about two minivans worth of living area.
On board, the astronauts will spend about 30 minutes a day exercising, using a device that allows them to do dead lifts, rowing and more. Sleep will come in eight-hour stretches in hammocks.
There is a custom-made warmer for meals, with beef brisket and veggie quiche on the menu.
Each astronaut is permitted two flavored beverages a day, including coffee. The crew will hold one hourlong shared meal each day.
The Universal Waste Management System—that’s the toilet—uses air flow to pull fluid and solid waste away into containers.
What happens after Artemis II?
Assuming it goes well, NASA will march on to Artemis III, scheduled for next year. During that operation, NASA plans to launch Orion with crew members on board and have the ship practice docking with lunar-lander vehicles that Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin have been developing. The rendezvous operations will occur relatively close to Earth.
NASA hopes that its contractors and the agency itself are ready to attempt one or more lunar landing missions in 2028. Many current and former spaceflight officials are skeptical that timeline is feasible.
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