Every year, the RaboDirect Super & Retirement Report is released in June.

The important findings of the report this year show that a lot of work in the savings departmnent is needed by Australians to set themselves up successfully for retirement:

It also shows that only 32% of Australians make voluntary contributions to their super. This fact is hardly surprising. When compulsory superannuation came into being during the 1990s, many people saw this as their golden ticket to retirement. They believed that the money their employer had to contribute to their workers retirement funds would be enough for them. In many cases it’s not.

The report shows that nearly 20% of Australians are relying on an inheritance from relatives for their retirement. Sadly, I see this quite often. With little or no money put aside for the future some people are hoping that parental support will continue long after the parents have passed away.

In this report you’ll read that the super ‘gap’ between what people expect to retire with and what they’ll need has grown from $268,502 in 2014 to $353,125 in 2017. The question I ask here is quite simply – have we increased our weekly retirement savings to match our future retirement spending?

Regardless of all the information that you hear and read about, the one thing that won’t change into the future is the need to adjust your lifestyle to suit the retirement income that you have. And the first way to do this is by careful consideration of how you will spend your money.

The report is certainly worth reading .

Today, you can easily address your retirement concerns  –

• A simple household budget now (before you retire) can put some money into a savings account. That will certainly help in the future.
• And for those who have already retired? A simple household budget will help take the ‘struggle’ out of meeting basic expenses and managing your money on a daily basis.

Regardless of how much money you have now and or will have into the future – the easiest financial plan is a budget.

But you knew I would say that, didn’t you!

©   Carmel McCartin – Budget Bitch

And don’t forget – (The views expressed in this blog are the personal opinions of the author. Don’t rely on them to make financial decisions; you have to make up your own mind. If you don’t like the content – then either stop reading or send me an email)