Retirees have never been wealthier, except for those that aren’t
The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey shows that many Australians die with significant wealth from home ownership and superannuation, but can this last?
Published 19 September 2025
Retirees have never been wealthier, except for those that aren’t
Fifty years ago, old age was almost synonymous with poverty. But recent data from the HILDA survey show that’s no longer the case for many older Australians.
On average, Australian retirees have never been wealthier or healthier or had better living standards than they do now.
That’s not to say that all disadvantage has been eliminated amongst retirees, but there has been a seismic shift.
While there are pockets of poverty and disadvantage, there also are many cashed-up retirees.
Superannuation balances have increased a lot, and the age pension has increased in real terms over the past 30 years.
But your level of wealth is very much related to whether you own your home and if it is paid off.
If we look at the mean total wealth for retirees, the issue for renters is stark.
In 2023, the average total wealth for recent retirees who owned their home outright was $AU1.66 million, compared to $AU1.48 million for those with a mortgage, and around $AU277,000 for those in private rentals.
In Australia in 2023, 66 per cent of recent retirees owned their home outright, with no mortgage debt.
Combined with rising superannuation balances, for these people, retirement is likely to be great.
But over the past 20 years, we’ve seen a general trend of more people retiring who still have mortgage debt (rising from 13 per cent in 2003 to 17 per cent in 2023).
One reason more people are retiring with mortgage debt is that they are buying their first home later in life and borrowing larger amounts due to rising house prices.
This combination makes it more common for Australians to still be repaying loans during retirement.
This is the long-tail effect of declining home ownership amongst younger people.
If you retire with mortgage debt, your living standards in retirement might be lower, but this can play out in different ways.
The HILDA survey does not capture the coping tactics of recent retirees with mortgages, but you could downsize the family home and get something cheaper, or use a superannuation lump sum to pay off the mortgage.
Or you keep paying it off out of your retirement income.
In 2023, 12 per cent of retirees were renting, double the proportion who were renting in 2003.
If current trends continue, nearly one in four people could retire as renters within 30 years – a significant shift from past generations.
And that could be a significant problem.
Business & Economics
Is this the golden age of retirement?
Australia’s retirement system was built on the assumption that most people would own their homes by retirement and face minimal housing costs.
But for renters, superannuation and the age pension may not be enough to last through retirement – increasing the risk of housing insecurity later in life.
Another factor is that retirees are healthier than they’ve ever been. A lot of that is to do with the health system which they largely do not pay for, as it’s mostly government funded.
But health costs are rising.
Between 2007 and 2023, the average amount retiree households spent on non-discretionary items (things like clothing transport, housing) rose 6 per cent (adjusted for inflation).
But during this same period, private health insurance costs for this group went up by around 48 per cent, and fees paid to healthcare practitioners went up 17 per cent.
Other significantly increasing costs were other insurance (up 56 per cent), home rent (up 37 per cent), and electricity, gas and other heating fuels (up 12 per cent).
Alarmingly, fees paid to health practitioners rose 16 per cent in real terms in just four years – from 2019 to 2023.
Over the past decade or so, Medicare rebates have failed to keep pace with the rising cost of delivering care, particularly for GPs.
The average out of pocket costs for an over 65 Australian to see a GP was $AU17 in 2003 (adjusted for inflation) and this rose to $AU39 in 2023.
Out-of-pocket costs for specialist care have also risen even more sharply.
Between March 2017 and March 2025, reports found that the average out-of-pocket cost for an initial dermatology consultation rose over 40 per cent (from $AU148.73 to $AU210.18), while the Medicare rebate for the same service increased by just $AU11.40.
Business & Economics
The evolution of retirement living
These rising costs have real consequences.
In 2023-24, around 900,000 Australians delayed or skipped specialist appointments due to cost – up from 176,000 in 2016-17.
For the latest HILDA report, we did a deep dive on people’s experience with chronic pain, asking how much bodily pain they have and how much that pain interferes with everyday activities.
Unsurprisingly, people aged 65 and older reported the highest levels of bodily pain.
In 2023, around 13 per cent of people 65 and older had severe or very severe bodily pain, and for 18 per cent, their pain affected their daily lives to a significant extent.
Having a serious illness, like arthritis, osteoporosis or emphysema is associated with significantly greater physical pain.
Bodily pain is also concerning from the perspective of individual wellbeing: people with severe bodily pain reported substantially lower life satisfaction and poorer mental health.
While we can celebrate the wealth superannuation and high levels of home ownership has given retirees, we need to think hard about how we can ensure that the next generation is also able to retire in comfort.
Super balances have grown, but homeownership still underpins retirement security.
As the share of retirees who rent rises, successive cohorts will retire less securely, with increasing risks of housing stress and financial insecurity.
The 20th Annual Statistical Report of the HILDA Survey lead author is Dr Inga Laß, with co-authors Dr Kyle Peyton, Professor Roger Wilkins and Dr Ferdi Botha.
The HILDA survey is managed by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research at the University of Melbourne, and is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Social Services.