Retirement Affordability Index February 2022

It was famously labelled ‘the nastiest, hardest problem in finance’ by Nobel laureate William Sharpe. We’re referring to the task of working out how to draw down from your nest egg without either underspending – and leaving an overly generous inheritance – or falling short.

For this edition of the Retirement Affordability Index™, we put that problem to some seasoned financial experts. Former actuary and retirement expert Don Ezra tells what he has learnt about confident spending and offers some personal strategies. Finance specialist Challenger addresses the critical element of the spending issue – longevity – and shares some fascinating (but flawed) findings about how long you believe you will live.

Research specialist with Morningstar Australia Annika Bradley tells why the time-honoured rule of thumb that you can safely spend 4 per cent of your savings is past its use-by date. She shares the latest advice plus retirement income-generating strategies. We’re constantly reminded about the value of financial advice, but how to assess low-cost robo-advice versus higher-cost tailored personal advice? We put that question to licensed Australian financial adviser and author Helen Baker and George Haramis, co-founder of moneyGPS which uses an artificial intelligence system.

The Australia Institute senior economist Matt Grudnoff …. Plus, we share results from the 2021 Ensuring financial security in retirement survey, reveal where living costs are rising and who’s hurting the most, with updated estimates of how much you now need for your preferred retirement, and tell what’s changed or is about to change in the retirement landscape.

Retirement Affordability Index

That’s a lot to digest, so make an extra cuppa, settle back and read on at your own pace – download in PDF format.