The satisfaction levels of retirees has fallen with one third uncomfortable with their current status while around half of pre-retirees feel they are not prepared for their retirement, according to research compiled by CoreData.
The research firm stated that its third annual Best Possible Retirement (BPR) Index dropped from 56 to 53 out of 100 driven by an increasing amount of retirees claiming they were not satisfied.
According to the BRP Index, 33 per cent of retirees said they were ‘not satisfied’, up 9 per cent from 2021, while 44 per cent were ‘somewhat satisfied’ and 21 per cent were ‘fairly satisfied’ with only 1 per cent claiming they were ‘satisfied’.
CoreData noted satisfaction levels dropped off more sharply the longer people were in retirement with 39 per cent of those retired for 10 years or more claiming they not satisfied.
The report also found 32 per cent of retirees were spending less than in 2021 and only 29 per cent were confident they will have sufficient savings to last the rest of their life but also noted that many pre-retirees also felt ill-equipped to face retirement.
Specifically it revealed 47 per cent were not well prepared, compared to 41 per cent in 2021, 39 per cent were moderately prepared, 13 per cent were quite well prepared, and only 1 per cent considered themselves well prepared
“These stats are worse for women, with less than one in ten women now well prepared. Further, of those Australian with less than five years to retirement, one in three remain not well prepared,” CoreData stated.
The BPR Index is based on an online survey, conducted from March to April 2022, of more than 5,900 Australians over the age of 45 of which approximately 3,300 were pre-retirees, and 2,500 were retirees and measured Retirement Preparedness (for those still working) and Retirement Satisfaction (for those retired) to produce an index between 0-100 as a measure of Australian’s Best Possible Retirement.
