IF YOU ever plan on leaving the workforce, you’d better start saving.

Because several property investors have made the alarming claim that the average Australian needs to own three properties in order to retire “comfortably”.

That’s the opinion of Daniel Walsh, 27, a former high school dropout-turned investor who has managed to build up his own multimillion-dollar portfolio in less than a decade.

He explained his theory to news.com.au by citing the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), Australia’s peak superannuation body, which states the average couple leaving the workforce today needs $60,457 per year in order to live securely.

Taking inflation into account, Mr Walsh predicted a couple who retired in 30 years’ time would need $145,000 a year between them.

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To achieve that, he said a couple would need three investment properties worth $400,000 each — or $1.2 million in total — in order to generate a comfortable level of retirement income.

“Assume these properties grew at just four per cent — although history shows that properties in capital cities grow by seven to 10 per cent on average over a 10-year period — on average, over a 30-year period, then these properties would be worth $3.892 million dollars,” he told news.com.au.

“With a return of five per cent you would receive an income of $194,600 per year.”

But while that prediction might sound unachievable if not downright impossible for struggling first homebuyers, Mr Walsh said amassing properties could be surprisingly attainable.

After all, he’s done it himself.

The former train driver has managed to build up an impressive nine-property portfolio on an “average wage” by rentvesting — renting where he actually wants to live, and buying strategically in cheaper, high-growth areas.

It’s a tactic that is earning him around $60,000 in passive income per year, and has seen his net worth soar to $2 million after deducting debt from his portfolio’s overall $4 million value — all before his 28th birthday.

And it’s one he also encourages others to adopt after setting up his own investment buyer’s agency, Your Property Your Wealth.

Mr Walsh said the biggest roadblock to people achieving financial freedom through property was their mindset, not their actual financial situation.

“Many hardworking Aussies will struggle to make ends meet in retirement when they probably earned millions of dollars during their lifetimes,” he told news.com.au.

“Too many people do little with the income they earn during their 40-year working lives, apart from buying and dutifully paying off their home.

“That’s generally because it is what generations of us have been taught to do.”

He said the majority of Australia’s 2 million-odd investors only own one property, which wasn’t enough to dramatically improve their financial position.

“Contrary to some alarmist ideas, you don’t need to own dozens of properties to get there,” Mr Walsh said.

“Living comfortably in retirement doesn’t require you to save every penny you earn — inside or outside super — during your working life.

“What it does require is a desire to be financially different and to develop a strategic plan that will see your monthly cash flow in retirement be many times more than it would have been if you had done nothing at all.”

Fellow property investor Bushy Martin agreed with Mr Walsh’s estimate, telling news.com.au the trick was figuring out how much income you would need per year to live well after leaving the workforce.

Using the example of a couple requiring $120,000 a year to maintain their lifestyle over two decades of retirement, Mr Martin said a total nest egg of $2.4 million was needed, based on a five per cent net return.

He said that was achievable through the ownership of two to three properties worth around $450,000 each.

“Time is the key ingredient here as it relies on a safe, affordable ‘get rich slow’ approach that rides a complete property cycle over 15 years,” he said.

In other words — don’t wait.

“Start taking control of your own future now by investing in safe, affordable, high-growth assets,” he said.

“Most Australians relying on paying off their home loan and surviving off their super are going to see their lifestyles and incomes fall off the cliff to an existence of penny-pinching poverty when they try to retire.

“And if people are dumb enough to think they can live comfortably on the aged pension — if it is still around and if they can jump all the hurdles to get it — the current full pension for a couple is $34,000 a year. To survive on this means you won’t be able to afford private health insurance, no car, no heating or cooling your home, no alcohol, no home repairs, cutting your own hair and only affording basic clothes — how does this sound?”

alexis.carey@news.com.au