Making plans to retire

IT’S a mind-boggling amount in anyone’s language — $1.37 trillion.

According to an article in Money Management, this is Australia’s projected retirement wealth by 2026. So how much will be yours? Today there are around 22.5 million people in Australia and by 2026 the population will reach around 30 million.

If people aged 65 and over represent about 15 per cent of the population, and say we assume all this retirement money could be allocated to this group in retirement, the average retirement balance in 2026 would be around $300,000, which experts say isn’t enough.

But in reality the $1.37 trillion has to go much further as it represents the retirement funds of all Australians.

Australians believe retirement occurs at 65 and over, which is actually incorrect. While the Federal Government keeps lifting the retirement age, on average Australians are retiring earlier.

The average age for women is around 52 and it’s closer to 60 for men. So how old are you likely to be when you retire and how much will you have?

Perhaps you think you’ll just work longer if you don’t have enough, but statistics indicate otherwise, so there’s a high probability you’ll retire with less than you need. But you can do something about it.

First, plug into a retirement savings calculator on the government website Money Smart the average retirement age above to determine your retirement savings and compare this to your savings at 65.

The sooner you know your retirement goal, the easier it will be to build your wealth for retirement.

WHAT DO WE EXPECT IN THE MARKET?

BRING out the champagne. The Australian market continued higher this week to finally top the 6000-point level.

Although the climb will start slowly, it’s likely to rise steadily over coming months.

Short-term resistance exists around 6070 points. From there, the market is likely to move to between 6200 and 6400 points.

The market will be waiting for retail sales data. Next month, pre-Christmas sales data is released as an indicator of our festive spending, but the real numbers are due out in January. Watch with interest.