Living Well in Retirement

Living well in retirement is about more than just financial planning. Maintaining health, wellbeing and social connections also play an important role in improving retirement outcomes.

Retirement confidence and financial confidence are not the same thing. Planning for your future and making the most of retirement is often about finding the right balance between key elements such as health and wellbeing, financial awareness, and social connectedness.

And while it’s still important to consider how much money you will need to retire, a study between AustralianSuper and Monash University – known as the Retirement Confidence Index (RCI) ¹ – found there are four key factors that help boost confidence in retirement:

1. Financial awareness and skills

This looks at a person’s level of financial literacy, attitude, behaviour, control and financial anxiety. While the study found women had lower financial literacy and higher financial anxiety, they were more likely to save for the future. This was also true of retirees, more educated respondents, homeowners and those in a de facto relationship or married.

2. Health and wellbeing

Physical and mental health form part of the wheel of life, which are the different areas that can help you reach a more balanced lifestyle. Respondents with good physical health had a higher level of retirement confidence than those with poorer health.

3. Social factors

Social connections also make up another segment of the wheel of life. The study found that women and those who were married or in a de facto relationship were more socially connected. However, migrants were more likely to be missing quality connections, due to friends and family being overseas.

4. Retirement awareness and planning

This looks at how certain a person feels about the future, and their behaviour in terms of setting goals. Study participants who set clear and specific goals scored much higher than those who didn’t.

Those with a formal education showed higher levels of goal setting, as did homeowners – they also had fewer uncertainties about the future. So did people who were married or in a de facto relationship, retirees and those with a higher income.

Migrants were less likely to plan for retirement, however, they had similar levels of financial literacy and mental and physical health as Australians – and a similar overall level of confidence.

The power of retirement planning

Since the RCI began in 2017, it’s shown an improvement in financial literacy as participants approach retirement. This suggests pre-retirees are developing skills and knowledge to better manage their money.

However, it’s important to remember that all the factors in the study are interconnected, with physical and mental health and financial wellbeing working together to provide your best position in retirement.

AustralianSuper offers retirement planning that can help provide insights and give you the resources to plan for a more balanced lifestyle, looking at both financial security and personal wellbeing in retirement. Our live Lifestyle in Retirement webinar looks at maintaining retirement confidence, with tips on how to boost retirement income, utilise government benefits and navigate estate planning and tax considerations.

To learn more about living well into retirement visit AustralianSuper’s Elements of Retirement guide.

¹ _{The 2022 AustralianSuper Monash University Retirement Confidence Index. Based on answers from approximately 3000 people aged 50 and over. Retirement scores are compared to the Australian average, estimated from the key socio-demographic variables captured in the study.}

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_{This information may be general financial advice which doesn’t take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Before you make a decision about AustralianSuper, you should think about your financial requirements and refer to the relevant Product Disclosure Statement, available at australiansuper.com/PDS. A Target Market Determination (TMD) is a document that outlines the target market a product has been designed for. Find the TMDs at australiansuper.com/TMD. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd, ABN 94 006 457 987, AFSL 233788, Trustee of AustralianSuper ABN 65 714 394 898}