Over the past 20 years a yawning gap has emerged between the cost of living and our sagging standard of living as the prices of many of the goods and services we "need" have risen way in excess of the prices for our discretionary "wants".

It explains why many Australians feel poorer even though wages have risen over that period a little more than the official consumer price index, which measures inflation.

Fidelity International's asset management specialist Anthony Doyle has tracked the price movements in "needs" versus "wants" since 2000, based on the sub-categories within the consumer price index.

While the official CPI has gone up 57 per cent, the prices of, for example, secondary and tertiary education, healthcare, childcare, insurance, housing and most utilities have increased significantly more than the CPI.