Cost Of Living In Retirement Has Increased By Up To 9.10 Percent

The cost of living in retirement has increased by up to 9.10 percent for those in retirement, as stated in the latest Massey University Fin Ed study, "NEW ZEALAND RETIREMENT EXPENDITURE GUIDELINES". This outstrips our latest inflation numbers of 7.30 percent in the June 2022 quarter and the NZ Superannuation increase of just 5.95 percent this year.

Ralph Stewart, managing director of Lifetime Retirement Income, felt that retirees as a sector were hurting as the cost of living continues to rise, and this was a group which have few options available to them to combat the rising cost of living.

“If you are retired, you do not have the luxury of looking for a new job with higher pay to help meet the rising cost of living? They have one option, go without.”

Recent Government Policy to combat the cost of living have all but ignored our retired community, with the cost-of-living payment not being available to those getting NZ Super.

Household expenditure for retirees has increased by between 7.17 percent and 9.10 percent, depending on where you live, if you are single and how you choose to live in retirement.

The increases in cost are largely coming from transport, household utilities and food, the basics or retirement living. The cost of recreation and culture has not gone up as much as the main three, it is still increased significantly. Keeping active and social in retirement is vital.

Ralph Stewart, NZ’s leading specialist retirement income expert, thinks it is important that retirees are supported to think differently about their retirement savings differently.

“There was a time when NZ Super plus the investment income from modest savings was sufficient to support retirement living. This time has passed. For the majority of New Zealanders releasing retirement savings to support daily living a practical necessity.“

Ralph Stewart, with two decades of retirement income experience, goes on to say, “retirees can have confidence in combining retirement savings (using capital) and investment returns to generate a retirement income that can last a lifetime.

Ralph Stewart's, company Lifetime Retirement Income provides a free simple calculator to help retirees consider the retirement options available to them, lifetimeincome.co.nz.

© Scoop Media