Australian retirees spend their days on a mix of health and fitness, hobbies, socialising, travel, volunteering, part-time work, and family time. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australians aged 65 and over spend an average of 6.5 hours per day on leisure activities, more than any other age group. But retirement is not just about filling time. It’s about choosing how to live when work no longer dictates your schedule.
If you’re still working, retirement can feel like a big unknown. Some people imagine endless holidays. Others worry about boredom or losing purpose. The reality for most Australian retirees sits somewhere in between, and how you spend your time is closely connected to how well you’ve planned your finances.
How Retirees Actually Spend Their Time
Health and Fitness
Physical activity is one of the most common daily activities for Australian retirees. Walking is by far the most popular, but swimming, golf, yoga, cycling, gym sessions, and lawn bowls are all regular features of retired life.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, physical activity levels tend to decline with age, but retirees who maintain regular exercise report significantly better physical and mental health outcomes. Many retirees say their daily walk or gym session provides the structure that work used to, giving the day a starting point and a sense of routine.
Regular exercise also reduces the risk of social isolation, particularly when it involves group activities like walking groups, community sport, or fitness classes.
Hobbies and Personal Interests
Retirement gives people time to return to hobbies they put aside during working life, or to discover entirely new ones. Gardening, painting, woodworking, reading, photography, cooking, fishing, birdwatching, and learning new skills are all common.
Many retirees take up creative pursuits they never had time for: joining art classes, writing groups, or music lessons. Others invest in hands-on projects like renovating, building furniture, or restoring cars.
The cost of hobbies varies enormously. Gardening and walking cost almost nothing. Golf memberships, photography equipment, or overseas art courses can run into thousands per year. Understanding what your retirement activities will actually cost is an important part of budgeting, and one that’s often overlooked in financial planning.
Socialising and Community
Social connection is one of the most important and most underestimated aspects of retirement.
During working life, social interaction happens automatically through colleagues, clients, and daily routines. In retirement, it requires more intention. Many retirees build their social life around community groups, sports clubs, volunteering organisations, church or faith communities, men’s sheds or women’s groups, and regular catch-ups with friends and family.
Research from Beyond Blue shows that social isolation is a significant risk factor for depression in older Australians, particularly men who have recently retired. Staying socially connected isn’t just enjoyable; it’s protective for mental and physical health.
Volunteering
Volunteering is a major part of retirement life in Australia. According to Volunteering Australia, older Australians contribute billions of hours in volunteer work each year across community organisations, hospitals, schools, environmental groups, and charities.
For many retirees, volunteering provides purpose, structure, social connection, and a sense of contribution that replaces what work once provided. It’s also free, making it one of the most fulfilling and financially sustainable retirement activities.
Grandchildren and Family Time
Spending time with grandchildren and extended family is one of the most commonly cited joys of retirement. Many retirees take on regular childcare roles, helping their adult children with school pickups, school holidays, and after-hours care.
This is a significant financial contribution too: grandparent childcare saves Australian families billions of dollars each year in formal childcare costs. For retirees, it provides purpose and deep connection, though it can also be physically demanding and needs to be balanced with personal time and rest.
The Best Hobbies for Retirees to Stay Active
Staying physically and mentally active is one of the most important things retirees can do for their long-term health and life satisfaction. Here are the hobbies we hear most often from Australian retirees who are genuinely thriving.
Walking groups. Low-cost, social, and easy to scale up or down depending on fitness. Walking groups through local councils, U3A (University of the Third Age), or community centres are popular across every state. Walking with others adds social benefit on top of the physical one.
Swimming and aqua aerobics. Gentle on joints, excellent for cardiovascular health, and highly social. Most local pools offer seniors’ sessions at reduced rates, and many retirees structure their week around a regular session.
Golf. One of the most popular retirement hobbies for good reason. It combines physical activity, social time, and a competitive element many retirees find motivating. Costs vary significantly depending on club membership and how often you play.
Gardening. Consistently rated one of the most satisfying retirement activities. It’s physical, creative, and productive, and the results are visible and rewarding. The cost is modest after initial setup.
Lawn bowls and croquet. A strong social scene, low physical impact, and genuinely welcoming to new members at most clubs. Many offer free trial sessions.
Art, craft, and creative pursuits. Painting, pottery, printmaking, jewellery, and woodcraft all develop with practice and give retirees a sense of ongoing achievement. Classes through TAFE, community centres, and U3A are affordable and well-attended.
Lifelong learning through U3A. University of the Third Age runs low-cost or free courses in almost every subject across Australia, from languages to history to technology. It’s one of the most underused and most valuable resources available to retirees.
Caravanning and regional travel. Exploring regional Australia at your own pace is a common retirement dream, and for many it delivers. The upfront cost of a van can be significant, but running costs are often lower than interstate flights and accommodation for couples who travel frequently.
The best hobbies for staying active are the ones you’ll actually do consistently. The activity matters less than building it into a regular routine that gives the week structure and the day a purpose.
Expensive Purchases Retirees Most Often Regret
One of the less-discussed aspects of retirement is the pattern of purchases that feel exciting at the outset but turn into financial burdens. These come up repeatedly in conversations with Australian retirees.
The caravan or motorhome bought on day one of retirement. The dream of grey nomad travel is real, but many retirees buy a large, expensive rig before they know whether they’ll actually use it. A caravan that seemed essential in month one often sits unused by year two, while depreciation and storage costs continue. Renting for a trip or two first is far less costly and gives you a realistic sense of whether the lifestyle suits you.
The second property. Buying an investment property as a retirement income strategy can work well, but it can also introduce unexpected complexity: tenancy problems, maintenance costs, capital gains tax timing issues, and Age Pension assets test implications. The illiquidity risk of having a significant portion of retirement assets locked in a single property is worth taking seriously, particularly as you age and your circumstances may change. Phil covered the interaction between investment property, CGT timing, and the Age Pension in Episode 10 of the Wealthlab podcast.
Expensive renovations. Retirement feels like the time to finally fix up the house. Some renovations are sensible and add genuine value or lifestyle benefit. Others, particularly those that are more ambitious than originally scoped, blow out in cost and don’t add equivalent value to the property.
Gifts and loans to adult children. The impulse to help adult children with home deposits, business ventures, or financial difficulties is understandable and generous. But early-retirement gifts that deplete capital can create serious problems 10 to 15 years later when the money is needed for healthcare or aged care. There are also Centrelink gifting rules that affect Age Pension eligibility if the amounts are significant. Phil made this point in Episode 12 of the Wealthlab podcast on estate planning: “There’s no right or wrong with estate planning. This is your money. It’s up to you.” But the timing and structure of gifts matters as much as the amount.
Overspending on travel in the first few years. The spending wave in early retirement is well documented. Retirees often spend heavily in the first 3 to 5 years while they’re healthy and mobile, then pull back. That’s fine if it’s planned. It becomes a problem if the early spending depletes capital faster than projected, reducing what’s available in later years when healthcare costs tend to rise significantly.
The common thread across all of these is purchasing or committing before a realistic budget is in place. A retirement budget that’s honestly built before you retire, not after, is the most practical protection against these patterns.
How Rising Australian Household Costs Are Affecting Retirement Budgets
The increase in Australian household costs over the past few years has had a real impact on retirement budgets, and it’s a conversation that comes up consistently in financial planning.
Energy bills, groceries, insurance, council rates, and healthcare costs have all risen materially since 2022. For retirees living on a relatively fixed income from super drawdowns and eventually the Age Pension, these cost increases reduce purchasing power in a way that’s hard to offset without drawing down capital faster than planned.
The ASFA comfortable retirement standard, currently $54,840 per year for a single and $77,375 per year for a couple (ASFA February 2026), is updated quarterly. But it captures average costs rather than the specific cost pressures that hit older Australians hardest: healthcare, energy, and home maintenance.
For retirees who set their budget in 2020 or 2021, the same nominal income is now buying measurably less. This has several practical implications.
Reviewing your retirement budget annually matters. A budget set at retirement doesn’t automatically adjust for rising costs. Checking actual spending against projected spending each year, and adjusting your drawdown strategy if needed, is basic but often neglected.
The Age Pension provides inflation protection that super drawdowns don’t. The pension is indexed twice per year against the higher of CPI or wage growth, meaning it keeps pace with living costs over time. For retirees approaching 67, the inflation-adjusted value of the pension is an increasingly important part of the income picture.
Healthcare costs compound with age. Private health insurance premiums rise annually. Out-of-pocket costs for dental, optical, physiotherapy, and specialist appointments are not fully covered by Medicare. For retirees in their 70s and 80s, healthcare is often the largest single discretionary expense. Building it explicitly into your retirement budget, rather than treating it as an unknown, is important.
We covered the broader impact of rising household costs on retirement security in our detailed article on Australian household cost increases and retirement, which is worth reading if you’re currently in or approaching retirement.
Do Retirees Still Work?
Yes, and this is increasingly common in Australia.
According to the ABS, a growing number of Australians continue working past traditional retirement age, either by choice or financial necessity. Part-time or casual work a few days a week, seasonal work, or project-based roles is especially popular.
For some, it’s about supplementing superannuation. For others, it’s about maintaining routine, purpose, and social contact. Either way, even $10,000 to $15,000 per year in part-time earnings can significantly extend how long your super lasts.
From age 67, the Work Bonus allows Age Pension recipients to earn up to $300 per fortnight from employment before it affects their pension payment, making part-time work financially attractive for pensioners.
Professionals who have built expertise over decades often continue contributing through consulting, board positions, or mentoring, on their own terms and schedule.
Travel in Retirement
Travel is one of the most anticipated aspects of retirement. Without work constraints, retirees have the freedom to travel outside peak seasons at lower cost, take longer and slower trips, explore regional Australia by caravan, visit family interstate or overseas, and join group tours designed for older travellers.
However, travel is also one of the largest discretionary expenses in retirement. A domestic holiday might cost $2,000 to $5,000. An overseas trip can easily run $8,000 to $15,000 or more for a couple. Frequent travel adds up quickly and needs to be budgeted carefully.
The ASFA Retirement Standard (February 2026) includes one domestic holiday per year and one overseas trip every seven years in its “comfortable” retirement budget of $77,375 per year for couples. If you want to travel more than that, you’ll need to plan for it explicitly.
What Does a Typical Retirement Week Look Like?
| Day | Morning | Afternoon | Evening |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Walk or gym | Gardening or hobby | Dinner at home, reading |
| Tuesday | Coffee with friends | Volunteering | Family dinner |
| Wednesday | Swimming or yoga | Errands, appointments | TV, podcast, or music |
| Thursday | Part-time work or consulting | Free time | Social outing or club |
| Friday | Walk with a friend | Hobby or creative project | Dinner out |
| Saturday | Markets or local event | Grandchildren | Relaxing at home |
| Sunday | Community group | Garden, reading, rest | Weekly planning, phone calls |
The point isn’t that every day is packed. It’s that there’s a rhythm. Retirees who have some structure to their week report consistently higher satisfaction than those who wake up each day without a plan.
What Does a Retirement Lifestyle Actually Cost Per Year?
| Activity | Estimated Annual Cost (Couple) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Health and fitness | $500 to $2,500 | Walking is free; gym memberships vary |
| Hobbies | $500 to $3,000 | Depends on the hobby |
| Social activities | $2,000 to $6,000 | Regular dining out adds up quickly |
| Domestic travel (1 to 2 trips per year) | $3,000 to $8,000 | Caravan travel cheaper than flights |
| Overseas travel (1 trip every 2 to 3 years) | $5,000 to $15,000 | Varies by destination |
| Private health insurance | $4,000 to $8,000 | Increases with age |
| Home maintenance | $2,000 to $5,000 | Older homes require more upkeep |
Want to see how your lifestyle spending interacts with your super balance and projected income? Our free Wealthlab super calculator lets you model different spending levels and see the impact on your retirement timeline.
FAQs: What Do Retirees Do All Day?
What do most Australian retirees do all day?
Most Australian retirees spend their days on a combination of health and fitness activities, hobbies, socialising, volunteering, family time (especially grandchildren), travel, part-time work, and household tasks. According to ABS data, Australians aged 65 and over spend an average of 6.5 hours per day on leisure activities, more than any other age group.
What are the best hobbies for retirees to stay active?
The most popular hobbies for staying active in retirement are walking in groups, swimming or aqua aerobics, golf, gardening, lawn bowls, and lifelong learning through programs like U3A. The best hobby is the one you’ll do consistently. Social hobbies that combine physical activity with connection tend to produce the best outcomes for both health and life satisfaction in retirement.
What expensive purchases do retirees most often regret?
The most commonly regretted purchases are large caravans or motorhomes bought before knowing whether travel suits them, investment properties purchased without fully understanding ongoing cost and illiquidity, over-ambitious home renovations, early-retirement gifts or loans to adult children that depleted capital, and overspending on travel in the first few years before the budget settled. The pattern is almost always purchasing before a realistic budget is in place.
How are rising Australian household costs affecting retirees?
Energy, groceries, insurance, and healthcare costs have all risen significantly since 2022. For retirees on a fixed income from super drawdowns, these increases reduce purchasing power without a natural offset. The Age Pension provides some protection as it’s indexed twice yearly, but super drawdown income isn’t automatically adjusted. Reviewing your retirement budget annually against actual spending is increasingly important in a higher-cost environment.
Do retirees get bored in Australia?
Some do, particularly in the first 6 to 12 months when the transition from structured working life to unstructured days takes adjustment. But retirees who plan how they’ll spend their time through hobbies, volunteering, social activities, or part-time work tend to find retirement highly satisfying. Boredom is usually a symptom of insufficient planning, not insufficient money.
How much does a retirement lifestyle cost in Australia?
It depends on your lifestyle choices. The ASFA Retirement Standard (February 2026) estimates couples need approximately $77,375 per year for a comfortable retirement and $51,299 for a modest retirement. Active lifestyles with regular travel and dining out cost more. Home-based lifestyles with gardening and walking cost significantly less. Healthcare costs increase with age and are often the most underestimated expense.
How do retirees stay mentally healthy?
Staying socially connected, physically active, and purposefully engaged are the three strongest predictors of mental health in retirement. Beyond Blue recommends maintaining friendships, joining community groups, exercising regularly, and seeking professional support if mood changes persist after retirement.
Plan the Retirement Lifestyle You Want
What do retirees do all day? They live on their own terms, at their own pace, focusing on health, relationships, and the interests they never had enough time for while working.
But the retirement you want requires the financial plan to support it. At Wealthlab, we help Australians connect lifestyle goals with superannuation strategy, Age Pension timing, and sustainable income so retirement feels as good as you’ve imagined.
If any of this has raised questions about your own retirement income or lifestyle planning, book a free chat with the Wealthlab team. No pressure, no jargon.