How much do you need to retire in Australia in 2021?

[Bobj]

On 21/09/2021 at 10:15, Paul1Perth said:

Personally I'm loving retirement, my wife retired too a few weeks ago, she loves it.

I think you need a good group of friends and a routine though. My wife is down the beach this morning for 7:30 yoga, it's really nice weather today so I'll go to the gym then meet her down the beach later. Maybe take the surf ski or paddle board out. Played golf yesterday, after a ski paddle in the morning with friends.

Because we're still members of a surf club and live very close there's always someone organising something. Mostly free, my wife pays a little bit for yoga but she goes training and swimming with a group and the coach that organises that doesn't charge anything. They just say they are doing the session anyway, come if you want.

A few of the guys I played golf with yesterday are retired. Most ex Woodside FIFO workers, retired early (well a lot earlier than me at 66) and they all have a big group of friends and things to do.

It was strange listening to them chat after about FIFO swings. The swings keep changing, my son and the younger ones are on 3 weeks on 3 weeks off. The older guys used to do 2 on 2 off then get the odd 4 week off. They said they preffered that as 3 weeks didn't give you long enough to have a proper holiday.

It's a different world to normal workers that have to save up for their one summer family holiday a year.

I think if your social life was more involved with work and work colleagues then it would be tougher to retire. You'd lose touch, be out of the loop and possibly wouldn't be able to enjoy the chat when you did catch up. My work mates and social mates were totally different, there is one friend from work I see socially the others were more interested in computers and gaming. Now I've retired I have zero interest in that.

Interesting, @Paul1Perth. I was one of the first on that contract, when the venture was first being built. My room was No.208 on Heirsson Cove. When I left some six months later, there were over 3500 units similar to mine. We only had  3 months on to 1 week off. "The tank farm" had only just been started when I left to start another contract 2000 km closer to home.

Good times!

Cheers, Bobj.

[Paul1Perth]

3 minutes ago, Bobj said:

Interesting, @Paul1Perth. I was one of the first on that contract, when the venture was first being built. My room was No.208 on Heirsson Cove. When I left some six months later, there were over 3500 units similar to mine. We only had  3 months on to 1 week off. "The tank farm" had only just been started when I left to start another contract 2000 km closer to home.

Good times!

Cheers, Bobj.

Was the money good then Bob? My son said last week he only works 21 weeks a year and earns a lot more than I ever did. Trouble is he spends it too.

I have another friend who I play golf with in his 70's. He used to work for main roads as a surveyor up North and in the Kimberleys, he has some great stories. Months away from home, really tough conditions, middle of nowhere, living in tents, baking hot and dusty.

Kids of today don't know how good they have it. And then they blame baby boomers for what they think is a bad world. Apparently we all had it easy and it's all our fault.

[Bobj]

29 minutes ago, Paul1Perth said:

Was the money good then Bob? My son said last week he only works 21 weeks a year and earns a lot more than I ever did. Trouble is he spends it too.

I have another friend who I play golf with in his 70's. He used to work for main roads as a surveyor up North and in the Kimberleys, he has some great stories. Months away from home, really tough conditions, middle of nowhere, living in tents, baking hot and dusty.

Kids of today don't know how good they have it. And then they blame baby boomers for what they think is a bad world. Apparently we all had it easy and it's all our fault.

ever more interesting, I loved my time in the Kimberlies and Pilbara and would be there in a shot, but for Mum's illness.

A pm, please on the survey chappie's name.

My weekly pay on the Woodside show was $400.

Cheers, Bobj.

[Robert Dyson]

On 05/09/2021 at 12:38, Marisawright said:

  Now, if you retire at 55, you could potentially spend more years in retirement than you did at work - no wonder the money may not last!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-24/the-great-resignation-post-pandemic-work-life-balance/100478866

Quote

In the US, COVID-19 has led to what's been dubbed the Great Resignation: millions of people, from frontline workers to senior executives, voluntarily calling time on their jobs.

According to recent research by Microsoft, more than 40 per cent of the global workforce are considering leaving their employers this year.

The mass exodus has company leaders bracing for a seismic shift in the workforce — and the trend is likely to be heading to Australia.

"The movement of talent is so significant and so sharp that it's different to probably anything we've seen in living memory," behavioural scientist Aaron McEwan, from global research and advisory firm Gartner, told ABC RN's This Working Life.

Interesting effect that may be on the horizon.  Will create enormous churn in the job market worldwide, and changes in employment, potentially letting a lot of younger and more junior staff into jobs that wouldn't have been available previously.  

There still appears to be enormous uncertainty over the future..long leases on buildings that some companies no longer want, but a political desire to see people back in a centralised workplace because Governments have just spent 50 years building city centre economies with hundreds of thousands of supply chain jobs, hotels, restaurants, shopping and  entertainment utterly dependent on servicing a daily workforce who may not be there in future, and definitely wouldn't be there if they weren't forced to work there.

[rammygirl]

My sister rang last night with the news she has resigned from her part time NHS counselling job at 68. She retired from physiotherapy at 60 and re trained in counselling and therapy initially to support chronic pain treatment. 
 

Anyway she couldn’t face going back into clinical setting after remote working with new conditions.  She has private clients and now feels her time is more important now.  She intended to work till 70 but has cut her cloth (I do think COVID restrictions helped cure her shopping habit!) and is embracing freedom.  About time I say!

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, Robert Dyson said:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-24/the-great-resignation-post-pandemic-work-life-balance/100478866

Interesting effect that may be on the horizon.  Will create enormous churn in the job market worldwide, and changes in employment, potentially letting a lot of younger and more junior staff into jobs that wouldn't have been available previously.  

For a long time, there has been a trend for people to drop out of conventional employment.  You just have to look at shows like House Hunters International or read some of the blogs out there:  thousands of people, giving up their jobs in their forties to find a "better life balance" in a cheaper country.   They may have enough to live on, from savings, work-from-home jobs, blogging, influencing or whatever--but most of them are just earning enough to live comfortably.  They're not putting money away for retirement. 

If they're Brits or Australians or Europeans, they're presumably relying on the state to provide a pension when they get too old, but that's a naive assumption in this day and age.  You can't help feeling there's going to be a crisis of elderly poverty when they get to old age.

Edited September 24, 2021 by Marisawright

[Rossmoyne]

I am a single parent, in my early 70's now, and have been retired for 9 years.   I retired through ill-health (I had Ross River Virus and some days couldn't even get out of bed, and after a year of this decided early retirement was the only pathway for me).  Prior to RRV I had a responsible position in HR within a state education department, loved my job and had planned on working a few more years,  but my health decreed otherwise.

My first 6 months of "forced" retirement was not easy.  My health apart, I missed everything about work, from the social contact through to the authority that my role gave me and the support I had given staff in schools.  Most of my friends were still teaching/working in central office admin and not retired, and of course there was my financial situation of retiring before the finances were totally in place as planned.

Once my health improved though, I went back to my voluntary roles at various schools that educated and supported children with special needs, and I felt that my experience and knowledge was valued.   I worked on the admin and fundraising front for these schools and totally enjoyed it until covid shut everything down early 2020. 

I am a member of National Seniors Association.  If you are in Australia and retired, you might want to google them and support them.   Apart from their lobbying the government for heaps of improvements in legislation for us oldies, they have negotiated discounts for so many services  for us,.    They are also part of the campaign to have frozen pensions stopped for the many of us Brit pensioners living in Commonwealth countries.   I am active in my local branch of National Seniors Australia, and this has really kept my mind active and proactive.

My whole reason for this post is to say, that it doesn't matter how old you are, you still have relevance in society, and even though you might not have the retirement funds you really wanted to have, life in retirement is not totally about money you have coming in, but about how you approach retirement.   Giving back is a big part of being retired.  

[MARYROSE02]

21 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

My wife said she didn't know how she had time to work a couple of days ago.

I guess I do volunteer on patrols at the surf club. Not what I'd call work though, being down the beach looking out for people who might be in difficulty. Nice feeling when you do get to help mind you, happened a few times.

Patrols start this weekend.

Replying to your earlier post! I love Woodside,  one of the two stocks I've held along with ANZ, after selling the rest when I bought the home in the UK. When I get the money from the sale I might buy Wesfarmers again. I think they still own Bunnings and Blackwoods? I've still got my Spurs shares which my Dad bought for me but they don't pay any dividends.

There's nothing wrong with doing nothing in retirement as long as you fill your day with different kinds of nothing rather than the same nothing.

That's my theory which I've put into practice. Yesterday I rose late at 1140, showered (proper not Pommie) breakfast, put some washing on then spent an hour reading and listening to 2GB (Sydney's 6PR?) followed by an hour watching Billions.

Then I went down to the park with coffee to go and did an hour or so of Japanese before returning home for late lunch before a second stint in the park walking and sitting. 

Then home to nap till 830 pm, dinner,  pizza to go, bit of TV then a marathon session  on the Times' cryptic Xword which, for the first time in 25 years, I think I finished,  with help from my brother in Surfers. (I text him a photo of the xword).

0100 to 0230 was another one and a half episodes of Billions. I should have gone to bed earlier but I'm addicted to Billions which has made the interminable lockdown easier to bear.

I really should emulate you and go to a gym and once they lift the 5km limit I might start going to the beach every eve to swim again. 

Have any long term studies been done on the effects of FIFO working? I'm sure I read something about it.

92 days of lockdown and 90 days of no alcohol but not an ounce of weight lost, nor any other benefits that the wowsers go on about but I feel good for doing it.

[Paul1Perth]

1 hour ago, MARYROSE02 said:

Replying to your earlier post! I love Woodside,  one of the two stocks I've held along with ANZ, after selling the rest when I bought the home in the UK. When I get the money from the sale I might buy Wesfarmers again. I think they still own Bunnings and Blackwoods? I've still got my Spurs shares which my Dad bought for me but they don't pay any dividends.

There's nothing wrong with doing nothing in retirement as long as you fill your day with different kinds of nothing rather than the same nothing.

That's my theory which I've put into practice. Yesterday I rose late at 1140, showered (proper not Pommie) breakfast, put some washing on then spent an hour reading and listening to 2GB (Sydney's 6PR?) followed by an hour watching Billions.

Then I went down to the park with coffee to go and did an hour or so of Japanese before returning home for late lunch before a second stint in the park walking and sitting. 

Then home to nap till 830 pm, dinner,  pizza to go, bit of TV then a marathon session  on the Times' cryptic Xword which, for the first time in 25 years, I think I finished,  with help from my brother in Surfers. (I text him a photo of the xword).

0100 to 0230 was another one and a half episodes of Billions. I should have gone to bed earlier but I'm addicted to Billions which has made the interminable lockdown easier to bear.

I really should emulate you and go to a gym and once they lift the 5km limit I might start going to the beach every eve to swim again. 

Have any long term studies been done on the effects of FIFO working? I'm sure I read something about it.

92 days of lockdown and 90 days of no alcohol but not an ounce of weight lost, nor any other benefits that the wowsers go on about but I feel good for doing it.

One of the things I've stuck with is getting up early. Best part of the day in Perth is early morning, specially in summer. Lots of the surf club training starts at 5:30am in summer, not yet though, it's still 7:00am for most sessions.

I have a weird thing called benign positional vertigo at the moment, had it since Monday evening. Just thought I felt a bit dizzy going to bed and would be fine the next morning. Still felt the same next morning and it makes you feel sick. Thought it was getting a bit better Wednesday and took the youngster for a driving lesson. Felt really sick in the car and couldn't wait to get home. My wife took me to St Johns clinic the next morning where you don't need an appointment. Emergency care clinic. Saw an Irish doctor who knew instantly what it was when I told him the symptoms. Had me do a couple of exercises where you sit up, look up, then drop on to your side on the bed. Made me feel instantly sick and dizzy. Got some anti nausea tablets which help. I had a sick bag with me and threw up in the wifes car coming home. Hopefully go off soon I hope, can't do any exercise so it's driving me nuts. Just getting over a broken leg now this, it's crap getting old.

Hopefully soon back to the 7:00am swim or ski paddle.

Looking forward to the AFL final tonight, Perth is really busy and it should look great on TV. My son has tickets for the game and is going for Melbourne. I'd like to see them win too but as long as it's a good game not really fussed.

[Paul1Perth]

17 hours ago, Robert Dyson said:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-24/the-great-resignation-post-pandemic-work-life-balance/100478866

Interesting effect that may be on the horizon.  Will create enormous churn in the job market worldwide, and changes in employment, potentially letting a lot of younger and more junior staff into jobs that wouldn't have been available previously.  

There still appears to be enormous uncertainty over the future..long leases on buildings that some companies no longer want, but a political desire to see people back in a centralised workplace because Governments have just spent 50 years building city centre economies with hundreds of thousands of supply chain jobs, hotels, restaurants, shopping and  entertainment utterly dependent on servicing a daily workforce who may not be there in future, and definitely wouldn't be there if they weren't forced to work there.

Interesting times for sure. Considering leaving your job is a lot different than actually doing it. Usually reality kicks in and you realise you still have bills to pay and a life to live. 

Number of times I felt like a change but then realise how much I had invested in the job I had. 

Don't know whether cities will ever be the same though, lots working from home now.

[Robert Dyson]

1 hour ago, Paul1Perth said:

Interesting times for sure. Considering leaving your job is a lot different than actually doing it. Usually reality kicks in and you realise you still have bills to pay and a life to live. 

I think in Australia the housing market has been ridiculous and given people the opportunity to cash in, maybe knock a few years off their working life.  In ACT houses have been earning more per day than the people who live in them,  rising something like 40% in 18 months.  I don't think it can possibly last, so maybe it's a chance to get out at the top before it falls back.

 

[Drumbeat]

1 hour ago, Paul1Perth said:

One of the things I've stuck with is getting up early. Best part of the day in Perth is early morning, specially in summer. Lots of the surf club training starts at 5:30am in summer, not yet though, it's still 7:00am for most sessions.

I'm a night owl so not having to get up early is bliss! I've just been offered 2 months work at my old job and I'm hating the thought of early mornings but at least it's for a limited time 

[Paul1Perth]

2 hours ago, Drumbeat said:

I'm a night owl so not having to get up early is bliss! I've just been offered 2 months work at my old job and I'm hating the thought of early mornings but at least it's for a limited time 

You don't have to take it mate.

[Paul1Perth]

3 hours ago, Robert Dyson said:

I think in Australia the housing market has been ridiculous and given people the opportunity to cash in, maybe knock a few years off their working life.  In ACT houses have been earning more per day than the people who live in them,  rising something like 40% in 18 months.  I don't think it can possibly last, so maybe it's a chance to get out at the top before it falls back.

 

You still need somewhere to live and costs of moving aren't cheap. You may have your life and friends in the suburb you live in and moving might mean trying to recreate that part of your life.

We have friends downsized, cashed in on a beautiful house and moved to a new build but way up the coast. Loads of friends tried to talk them out of it. Their friendship group is here, members of the surf club. They bought electric bikes and thought they would be biking from where they live. The wife did it once and just said it's way too far.

[Parley]

As long as people own their own home when they reach retirement they should be fine. Everybody retiring now on has had access to superannuation for all their working lives. At least if they are a full time employee.

Even if you don't reach the aspirational targets set by the ASFA. If you have 2 or 3 hundred thousand in conjunction with the pension you will be fine.

[Drumbeat]

9 minutes ago, Paul1Perth said:

You don't have to take it mate.

I'm very bad at saying no to money 

 

[Robert Dyson]

1 hour ago, Paul1Perth said:

You still need somewhere to live and costs of moving aren't cheap. You may have your life and friends in the suburb you live in and moving might mean trying to recreate that part of your life.

We have friends downsized, cashed in on a beautiful house and moved to a new build but way up the coast. Loads of friends tried to talk them out of it. Their friendship group is here, members of the surf club. They bought electric bikes and thought they would be biking from where they live. The wife did it once and just said it's way too far.

True.  That's the worry about moving to a coastal town and especially a new estate..unless you pay top dollar to get in the middle you might be further away from the social life and still a car trip away from the beach.  I went to a mate's house in Sawtell, just south of Coffs. Beautiful,  new estate, very scenic and quiet...but it's not even in Sawtell, let alone Coffs.  I reckon i'd last 6 months before going stir crazy.

I saw something on here about Redcliffe/Margate/Scarborough the other day, on the coast 1 hour out from Brisbane and on a trainline, seems laidback but busy enough not to feel cut off from life, you can live there and avoid all that M1 commuter traffic going up and down, but still jump on a flight in 45 mins.  

[MARYROSE02]

6 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

One of the things I've stuck with is getting up early. Best part of the day in Perth is early morning, specially in summer. Lots of the surf club training starts at 5:30am in summer, not yet though, it's still 7:00am for most sessions.

I have a weird thing called benign positional vertigo at the moment, had it since Monday evening. Just thought I felt a bit dizzy going to bed and would be fine the next morning. Still felt the same next morning and it makes you feel sick. Thought it was getting a bit better Wednesday and took the youngster for a driving lesson. Felt really sick in the car and couldn't wait to get home. My wife took me to St Johns clinic the next morning where you don't need an appointment. Emergency care clinic. Saw an Irish doctor who knew instantly what it was when I told him the symptoms. Had me do a couple of exercises where you sit up, look up, then drop on to your side on the bed. Made me feel instantly sick and dizzy. Got some anti nausea tablets which help. I had a sick bag with me and threw up in the wifes car coming home. Hopefully go off soon I hope, can't do any exercise so it's driving me nuts. Just getting over a broken leg now this, it's crap getting old.

Hopefully soon back to the 7:00am swim or ski paddle.

Looking forward to the AFL final tonight, Perth is really busy and it should look great on TV. My son has tickets for the game and is going for Melbourne. I'd like to see them win too but as long as it's a good game not really fussed.

I could not resist Googling the medical centre - open 8am to 9pm 7 days and in a number of locations in Perth. Do you have to pay? There's a 7 day medical centre 9am to 5pm or 6pm weekdays in Bondi Jn which bulk bills. Is there a 7 day dentist in the St John's place? I found out a couple of years ago BUPA have a 24 x 7 emergency dentist  - you don't have to be a member. I used them on NYE.

I did resist the temptation to look up yr illness however.  Nasty to get things like that. I had a problem last year which scared me, something "neuropathy" which the neurologist I saw said is not dangerous. I felt like I was unbalanced,  walking as if I was drunk.  It went away but I fancy it may return. 

I wish i could go to bed early and rise early. I fancy in Perth summers it's more pleasant early mornings and late arvos?  I'm in bed now at 1835, nap before the GF. I'll go for Demons because they've not won since 1964? I watched 2h of Penrith v Melbourne in NRL, Penrith v Souths in GF. I'll gir South's as that is my part of Sydney.

If I have to tie my shoelaces i can't get up easily. Reverting to being a kid when I could ask my mum or dad to do it.  

 

[newjez]

17 hours ago, Robert Dyson said:

I think in Australia the housing market has been ridiculous and given people the opportunity to cash in, maybe knock a few years off their working life.  In ACT houses have been earning more per day than the people who live in them,  rising something like 40% in 18 months.  I don't think it can possibly last, so maybe it's a chance to get out at the top before it falls back.

 

If you time it right, you can pay for your retirement.

[MARYROSE02]

19 hours ago, Drumbeat said:

I'm a night owl so not having to get up early is bliss! I've just been offered 2 months work at my old job and I'm hating the thought of early mornings but at least it's for a limited time 

I only really became a night owl when I worked for Royal Mail and realized I liked working late shifts from 1330 to 2130 thus avoiding rush hour on day shift and getting up at 5 am for 0600 to 1400 shifts.  I never had to set an alarm clock and could go to bed when I liked. Before RM I always worked daytime hours.  It is nice to be on day shifts in spring and summer when you have the long evenings. 

I suppose I should push myself to be more disciplined and go to bed before midnight but I like watching the English football.  Tonight Arsenal v Spurs kicks off at 1 am or 130 am and although I could watch it on record without knowing the score I'll probably stay up.

[MARYROSE02]

17 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

You still need somewhere to live and costs of moving aren't cheap. You may have your life and friends in the suburb you live in and moving might mean trying to recreate that part of your life.

We have friends downsized, cashed in on a beautiful house and moved to a new build but way up the coast. Loads of friends tried to talk them out of it. Their friendship group is here, members of the surf club. They bought electric bikes and thought they would be biking from where they live. The wife did it once and just said it's way too far.

I wonder why they didn't do a "test run" ie renting a place for a month or two to see what it's like. I've done my test run in Surfers but I still would not be game to move permanently.  I want to see if I can handle it on my own as I lived with my brother before. I was just starting to make some friends but I've already got a friends' network in Sydney. 

I did my test runs in Perth too over two trips totally 12 weeks. My friend over there has invited me to stay but, like Qld,  who knows when the borders will open? Xmas looks unlikely so next year after the General Election? 90 percent vaccination? Zero Covid? Never?

[rammygirl]

1 hour ago, MARYROSE02 said:

I wonder why they didn't do a "test run" ie renting a place for a month or two to see what it's like. I've done my test run in Surfers but I still would not be game to move permanently.  I want to see if I can handle it on my own as I lived with my brother before. I was just starting to make some friends but I've already got a friends' network in Sydney. 

I did my test runs in Perth too over two trips totally 12 weeks. My friend over there has invited me to stay but, like Qld,  who knows when the borders will open? Xmas looks unlikely so next year after the General Election? 90 percent vaccination? Zero Covid? Never?

This exactly. Some neighbours of ours have been talking about moving up to the Gold Coast to be near their daughter and new baby now they are retired. Big change from the Adelaide Hills. 
They sensibly decided to rent out their house here and rent somewhere up there for two years at least to try it out. So far reports are they are happy, but did move further inland to a more country area. 

[ramot]

We don’t fit the normal mode, we took a chance to retire to Australia, having not spent a lot of time here, apart from many short visits due to work. We had no close family here, and our 3 children were in UK. We did what we wanted to do, have a new experience in retirement, give it a few years, we weren’t  ready to settle back in UK in a cottage with roses round the door, and if it didn’t work out we would enjoy time spent in another country. I will add there was visa available then to do this.

We have been here for 18 years now, love it here and have no intention of leaving. Perhaps we have been lucky? but we have lived overseas for work, and know that life doesn’t come to you. You have to make an effort to meet people, join things to help you settle. Two of our children followed us here, the opposite to most people, and most of the African side of my family emigrated here, so have ended up with extended family close here, with only my son and family left in England. Life can turn out in unexpected ways, 

[Robert Dyson]

1 hour ago, rammygirl said:

This exactly. Some neighbours of ours have been talking about moving up to the Gold Coast to be near their daughter and new baby now they are retired. Big change from the Adelaide Hills. 
They sensibly decided to rent out their house here and rent somewhere up there for two years at least to try it out. So far reports are they are happy, but did move further inland to a more country area. 

our friends did something similar...the parents went to the GC first (from Little Bay in Sydney which was astronomically expensive) and left their daughter and partner renting down there.  The parents rented in GC and sussed the place out,  decided they were staying and purchased a house under construction just inland in a new suburb. 

The daughter came to visit and signed up for a house and land package in the next street....then they all moved into house 1 while waiting for house 2 to be built.     The 4 bed townhouse they were initially renting in Little Bay was priced at about $2.9 million, they ended up with two brand new 4 bed houses with pools for less than 1.3mill. 

The daughter has two kids now, so she and her partner work and the grandparents babysit and work part time, which was never going to be possible in Sydney

[Wanderer Returns]

On 25/09/2021 at 13:07, Robert Dyson said:

I think in Australia the housing market has been ridiculous and given people the opportunity to cash in, maybe knock a few years off their working life.  In ACT houses have been earning more per day than the people who live in them,  rising something like 40% in 18 months.  I don't think it can possibly last, so maybe it's a chance to get out at the top before it falls back.

 

20 hours ago, Parley said:

As long as people own their own home when they reach retirement they should be fine. Everybody retiring now on has had access to superannuation for all their working lives. At least if they are a full time employee.

 

6 hours ago, newjez said:

If you time it right, you can pay for your retirement.

These viewpoints are fine if you're one of those approaching retirement or have recently retired, and you own a sizeable property that you can downsize. The only homes that many young people can now afford are these 'lego brick cubes' they are throwing up, and they will be paying them off for decades, with very little scope to downsize in future. The average age Australians can afford their first home is now around 36. There's no way these first-time buyers are going to be retiring at 60 - they'll be lucky if they can stop work at 70. If you're happy to live in a country with a lower cost of living and rent your Australian home out for a few years, then you probably can afford to retire earlier - that's our (loose) plan anyway