At age 67, Australians could be eligible to receive the Age Pension payment.

This is a fortnightly sum, paid by Centrelink, to help older individuals fund their retirement. It’s an excellent tool, but is it enough to be able to afford the lifestyle you want?

Let’s take a look.

How much is the Age Pension?

The maximum fortnightly Age Pension payment will go up next week to $1,237.70 for individuals. Couples will soon get up to $933 per person per fortnight. 

This totals $32,180 per year for singles, and $48,516 per year for couples combined.

These figures include the maximum basic rate, the maximum pension supplement, and the energy supplement.

But, not everyone will get it. 

Eligibility for the Age Pension is heavily dependent on your income level and the assets you own.

It is possible to earn a part-payment if your income and/or assets are over the threshold, and the amount is generally calculated on a sliding scale.

How much does it cost to retire?

According to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), there are two main retirement lifestyle brackets in Australia: modest and comfortable.

A modest retirement is one that allows you to meet essential living costs. It assumes you’ll have enough money to fund basic costs like basic health insurance, essential utilities, and grocery expenses. It leaves a little room for infrequent, low-cost leisure activities and perhaps the occasional budget meal out. But it doesn’t account for funds for travel, and leaves only a very limited discretionary budget. 

ASFA estimates that a modest retirement will cost approximately $36,548 per year for singles and around $52,690 for a couple combined. These figures assume you own your home outright (so additional mortgage or rental costs will be on top) and that you’ll receive a part Age Pension. 

ASFA defines a comfortable retirement as one that allows Australians to maintain a good standard of living. It covers expenses like top-tier private health insurance, a reasonable car, and regular leisure activities. It also includes money for home repairs and renovations, some meals out, and maybe even an occasional holiday.

The data shows that a comfortable retirement is estimated to cost around $56,166 per year for singles and $78,998 for couples. Again, it assumes you’ll receive a part Age Pension and that you own your home in full.

The verdict

No, the Australian Age Pension isn’t enough to retire comfortably. In fact, it is even below the forecasted cost of a modest retirement. 

For a modest retirement, the gap is around $4,400 per year for singles and $4,200 for couples combined.

For a comfortable retirement, the gap is even wider, at around $24,000 per year for singles and roughly $30,500 for couples combined.

This means you’ll need superannuation or alternative savings to bridge the difference between the Age Pension payment and the realistic costs of retirement. 

The post Is the Australian Age Pension enough to retire comfortably? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Samantha Menzies has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) shares are having a choppy session on Tuesday.

The CSL share price climbed as high as $177 in early trade but has since given back those gains, now flat at $174.30.

This comes as the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) slips a little further into the red, down 0.1% to 8,670 points at the time of writing.

Still, CSL shares have had a much better run over the past month after a tough first half of 2026.

And with two brokers upgrading the stock overnight, there’s a bit more for investors to think about.

Brokers are getting more positive

According to The Australian, Barrenjoey has upgraded CSL to overweight with a $180 price target.

And RBC is even more positive, upgrading the stock to outperform and lifting its price target to $213.

That would put the shares more than 20% above where they trade today.

The broader broker picture is a bit more mixed, though.

TipRanks shows 11 recent analyst ratings on CSL, with 5 buys and 6 holds. The average 12-month price target is $172.92, which is basically where the shares are trading now.

But there are still some pretty bullish targets out there.

Jarden is at $207, Morgans is at $187.71, Canaccord is at $185, Morgan Stanley is at $182, and UBS is at $181.

At the lower end, Citi has a $160 target, Bell Potter is at $150, and Macquarie is down at $133.

Why I’m interested

I’m not interested in CSL just because a couple of brokers have upgraded the stock.

What I like more is that the business looks like it could finally be getting through some of the issues that have weighed on it.

FY26 revenue came in at US$15.8 billion, down 1% in constant currency, while underlying NPATA fell 2% to US$3.1 billion.

The statutory result looked a lot worse, with large impairments and restructuring costs pushing CSL to a US$2.6 billion loss.

But there were still some positives underneath the result.

Immunoglobulin revenue rose 7% over the year, channel inventory normalisation was completed, and CSL delivered US$176 million of savings during FY26.

Management is now targeting US$400 million of savings in FY27 and US$550 million by FY28.

Would I buy CSL shares?

Yes, I would.

CSL still has a few things to sort out, particularly around Vifor, albumin, and Seqirus, so I wouldn’t expect the recovery to be smooth from here.

Today’s early jump and quick reversal show there could still be plenty of volatility along the way.

But that doesn’t put me off.

CSL is still a business I’d be happy to own for the long term.

And at $174, I’d be happy to start with a smaller position around these levels and add to it over time.

The post Two broker upgrades put CSL shares back in focus appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Citigroup is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL and Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended CSL and Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Following a strong finish to August and start to September, the Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) price went into sharp reverse over the past day.

On Tuesday, the world’s first and biggest crypto reached highs of US$79,419, which saw it up more than 25% in a month.

But then the bottom fell out, and the Bitcoin price plunged 5.7% to US$74,910.

At the time of writing on Wednesday morning, it’s recovered some of those losses, trading for US$75,796.

Taking a step back, that leaves the world’s top crypto down 34.2% since this time last year and down 40% from its all-time high of US$126,198, notched on 7 October 2025.

It’s been a similar story with the world’s second biggest crypto by market cap, Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH). On Tuesday, the Ethereum price reached US$2,598 before crashing 8.2% to US$2,358 overnight.

Ethereum is currently trading for US$2,399.

Ethereum hit its own record highs on 25 August 2025, when the token reached US$4,954. It’s now down 51.6% from that high water mark.

So, why have crypto investors suddenly favoured their sell buttons?

Why is the Bitcoin price under pressure?

The Bitcoin price is catching headwinds on several fronts.

First, crypto investors the world over had been hoping to see the United States Senate pass the Clarity Act on Tuesday.

If you’re not familiar with this bill, it’s intended to give the US SEC and the CFTC departments oversight into crypto trading. If passed, it could fully open the door to trading in cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum in US stock markets.

But it did not pass yesterday, failing to get the required 60 vote majority.

Commenting on the fallout from the bill’s stalled passage, Ayesha Kiani, chief operating officer at Monarq Asset Management, said (quoted by Bloomberg):

The failure to advance the Clarity Act prolongs a regulatory gap that has real consequences for where companies build, where capital is deployed, and how quickly institutional adoption moves in the US.

And crypto investors will likely now have to wait until at least 2027 before the bill is revisited.

“Market structure legislation is done for 2026, and the next realistic window is a new Congress,” Jasper De Maere, an over-the-counter trader at Wintermute, noted.

What else has got crypto investors jittery?

The Ethereum and Bitcoin prices are also facing headwinds from high US inflation, leading to increasing expectations of an interest rate hike from the US Federal Reserve.

Like most risk assets, Bitcoin has proven to be very sensitive to interest rate levels.

Commenting on the impact of the inflationary pressure and interest rate outlook on Bitcoin, Nischal Shetty, founder of WazirX, said (quoted by Moneycontrol):

These factors can restrict liquidity and reduce risk appetite across crypto markets. However, Bitcoin’s relative stability suggests underlying demand remains resilient. Overall, macro conditions remain restrictive, but crypto continues to absorb external pressure without a broader breakdown.

The post Why did the Bitcoin price just plunge 6%? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.