Now before you come to the conclusion that this visa is reserved for the super rich, the elite, the aristocrats of this world, take note of the biggest, single way you can reduce the burden of the application; living in a regional or low growth area. In this instance your asset requirement falls to $500,000 AUD, the designated investment becomes $500,000 AUD, and the net income between you and your partner falls to $50,000 AUD. This may swing the move to Australia within arms reach.
Surprisingly the 405 visa is a temporary visa which only lasts for 4 years, whilst frustrating at first, the fact that the reapplication process is smoother and less demanding makes this less of an issue. At the renewal of this visa you will no longer be subjected to the assets requirement, furthermore your designated investment requirement will reduce to $500,000 AUD, or $250,000 AUD if you live in a regional or low growth area.
With Australia’s cost of living index firmly entrenching it in the top 20 most expensive countries to live in worldwide, it can be easy to discount Australia as a place far too expensive for you to retire in. But once you look further into the living standards, the public facilities provided, and the relatively high minimum wage of $18.29 AUD an hour (Oct 2017), the higher cost of living can be seen as a necessity to run a well developed, happy society.
To quantify whether you are on track for retirement the ‘association of superannuation funds of Australia’s retirement standard’ has released data on the funds you need per year in order to lead a nice comfortable lifestyle. They concluded that for a single person you would need $43,695 AUD per year, and a couple would need $60,063 AUD. This comfortable lifestyle would include domestic and international holidays, many leisure activities, a nice car, being able to eat out at a good range of restaurants with good quality food, and private health insurance.