By Catherine Mulholland, Otivo
Inside ASFA's comfortable retirement budget, a single person is allocated $21.81 a week for overseas travel. That is about $1,134 a year — enough for one modest trip every few years, not a annual fortnight in Europe. Streaming services get $10.82. Cinema, plays, sport and day trips together get $7.08. The word "comfortable" does a lot of work in this benchmark, and what it actually describes is a decent, unremarkable life with the bills covered and a bit of room around the edges. Here's the budget, line by line.
As at March quarter 2026, ASFA estimates a comfortable retirement costs $55,923 a year for a single homeowner aged 65 to 84, and $78,566 for a couple. A modest lifestyle costs $36,434 and $52,473 respectively. Both assume the home is owned outright and the retiree is in reasonably good health.
What is the ASFA Retirement Standard?
The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia has published the Retirement Standard for more than twenty years. Rather than offering a single target, it prices an actual basket of retirement expenses each quarter — groceries, council rates, private health cover, a car, haircuts, streaming subscriptions — and reports what the whole basket costs.
There are two standards. Modest describes a lifestyle better than the Age Pension alone but limited to the basics. Comfortable describes a broader range of activity: private health insurance, a reasonable car, good clothes, regular meals out, domestic travel and occasional overseas travel.
Both assume home ownership and reasonable health, and both are built around retiring at 67 and living to an average life expectancy of around 85.
What does the comfortable budget actually contain?
This is where the benchmark gets more interesting than the headline. The March quarter 2026 figures, weekly, for homeowners aged 65 to 84:
Inside that leisure line for a single person: $73.76 a week for lunches and dinners out, $60.69 for domestic holidays, $25.51 for takeaway, $23.56 for alcohol or the equivalent given to charity, $21.81 for overseas travel, $10.82 for streaming, $7.08 for outings and $4.74 for club memberships.
None of it is extravagant. There is no second property, no business class, no boat. It is a life with a working car, health cover, a weekly dinner out and a holiday — which is what makes the number worth taking seriously as a target rather than dismissing as aspirational.
How does comfortable compare with modest, and with renting?
Four versions of the same question produce four quite different numbers.
Two things stand out. A modest lifestyle for a renter costs nearly as much as a comfortable lifestyle for a homeowner — the housing line for a renting single runs to $414.62 a week against $155.71 for someone who owns. Home ownership is the single largest variable in Australian retirement, and every headline figure quietly assumes it.
And the budget falls after 85, but less than people expect. Travel and dining reduce; health costs and household help rise to partly replace them.
How much of that does the Age Pension cover?
More than half of a single person's comfortable budget, and more than half of a couple's.
The maximum Age Pension from 20 March 2026 is $1,200.90 a fortnight for a single person, around $31,223 a year, and $1,810.40 a fortnight combined for a couple, around $47,070 a year. Both amounts include the pension and energy supplements, and rates are indexed on 20 March and 20 September each year. Age Pension age is 67.
Against comfortable, that leaves a gap of roughly $24,700 a year for a single person and $31,500 for a couple. Against modest, the full Age Pension covers most of it — which is exactly why ASFA's lump sum for a modest lifestyle is only $110,000 for a single person and $120,000 for a couple, while comfortable requires $630,000 and $730,000.
The pension is means-tested on income and assets, and super counts towards both once you reach Age Pension age, so most retirees receive a part payment rather than the maximum. Our companion article works through how the two interact.
Where does the rest of the money come from?
For most Australians, from several places at once rather than from super alone.
- Superannuation, usually the largest private component, generally drawn as an account-based pension rather than a lump sum.
- The Age Pension, full or part.
- Savings and investments held outside super.
- Downsizer contributions, where a home is sold and part of the proceeds moved into super.
- Part-time or casual work, particularly in the first years of retirement.
Otivo's retirement planning module estimates where you would land across those sources, taking into account Age Pension eligibility, downsizer contributions, age, salary, super balance, other investments, lifestyle goals and super access age.
What changes the number for you?
Three variables move it more than anything else.
Housing. Owning outright versus renting is a difference of roughly $15,000 a year at the modest level. A remaining mortgage at 67 changes the picture again.
Health. Private cover is $49.95 a week for a single person in the comfortable budget, and out-of-pocket health costs rise sharply after 85 — the over-85 comfortable budget allocates $93.11 a week to co-payments for a single person, against $40.12 for someone aged 65 to 84.
How long it has to last. Australians reaching 67 today have a reasonable chance of seeing their nineties. A budget built for eighteen years and used for twenty-five is a different budget.
Frequently asked questions
Is $60,000 a year a good retirement income in Australia?
For a single homeowner it sits just above ASFA's comfortable benchmark of $55,923 a year as at March quarter 2026. For a couple it sits between the modest and comfortable standards. Whether it is enough depends on housing costs, health and how long it needs to last.
How much does a couple need to retire comfortably?
ASFA estimates $78,566 a year for a couple who own their home, supported by a lump sum of around $730,000 at age 67 alongside a part Age Pension. A modest lifestyle for a couple is estimated at $52,473 a year.
Why is the couple's figure not double the single figure?
Because many costs are shared. Housing, energy, transport and household goods do not double with a second person, so the couple's budget runs at roughly 1.4 times the single budget rather than twice it. Two Age Pensions also cover a larger share of it.
Are the ASFA figures updated?
Yes, quarterly, in line with price movements. The lump sums are revised less often — the current figures were revised in February 2026. It is worth checking you are looking at the most recent quarter, as older figures circulate widely.
The useful thing about a priced budget is that you can argue with it. If you would not spend $194 a week on a car, or you plan to travel considerably more than $21.81 a week allows, your number is different from the benchmark — and knowing in which direction is more valuable than adopting somebody else's total. Otivo is a licensed digital advice provider holding AFSL and Australian Credit Licence No. 485665, and our retirement planning module builds the estimate around your own figures.
Sources
- ASFA Retirement Standard, March quarter 2026, detailed budget tables for retirees aged 65–84 and over 85.
- ASFA Retirement Standard Explainer, lump sums revised February 2026.
- MoneySmart, ASFA Retirement Standard.
- Services Australia, Age Pension rates effective 20 March 2026.
Disclaimer
The information in this communication is current as at August 2026 and has been prepared by Otivo Pty Ltd ABN 47 602 457 732, AFSL and Australian Credit Licence No. 485665. This content is general information only and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not personal financial or taxation advice and should not be relied on as such. Before acting on any information, you should consider its appropriateness having regard to your personal circumstances. This material must not be reproduced in whole or in part, or posted on any social media platform, without the prior written consent of Otivo Pty Ltd.