Calculating how much money you will need in retirement is no easy task. With life expectancies around 90, there is a period of 20 to 30 years to plan for.  A simple planning framework can help get around some of the uncertainties to make it easier to work out how much money you will need.

There are three types of outgoings you need to plan for:

Money for daily living expenses. These are expenses that occur on a regular basis and predictable, such as food, petrol, rates, insurance, power, phone, clothing etc. NZ Superannuation (around $30,000 for couples and $20,000 for singles) will barely cover these costs but will not usually be enough to cover additional accommodation costs such as rent or a mortgage. Additional income from part time work or investments will give you a better standard of living.

Lump sum expenses. These are larger expenses which occur infrequently such as the purchase of a new car, an overseas trip, home maintenance and renovations, and large medical or dental bills. The easiest way to plan ahead for these is to break your expected retirement timeframe into shorter periods of say ten years. Generally, the first ten years is when you are likely to be more active and wanting to travel. The second ten years is the time when home maintenance is likely to be required, while the final ten years is when you need to consider what kind of aged care you may need – such as moving to a retirement village or paying someone to look after you. Typically, lump sum spending decreases over time.

Bequests. If you would like to leave a sum of money for family or for a charitable purpose, set these funds aside at the beginning of your retirement in a long term investment portfolio.