The NSW capital beat out 25 other cities from around the globe to be ranked the best city to retire in, according to the latest Global Lifestyle Review 2016 report from property agent Knight Frank.
But is Sydney actually the retirement capital of the world?
Not if you look at the categories the survey was judged on.
The finer things in life
While the report looked at quality of life, political risk and personal safety, there were also a range of key criteria it considered:
Hours of sunshine a year: 2592. Well, if we didn’t win on that one, we were never going to make the list at all.
Sydney also ranked highly for its 7.8km distance to a major international airport – no mention of the horrendous cost of a taxi or train ticket to actually get there. The researchers obviously haven’t tried our public transport system either. I’m guessing they wouldn’t find the $60 average cost for a travel card so reasonable then.
Property market performance: 14.8%. Provided you actually own your home – and it’s not a good two hour drive from the CBD.
Cost of annual health care: $8,758.85. Presumably this is if you have private health insurance of course. You’ve got to love those out-of-pocket costs.
Cost of a premium bottle of champagne in a five-star hotel: $128. Because we’re all spending our retirement living it up in luxury hotels?
Cost of a cappuccino: $2.68. Someone, please tell me where you can get a coffee in Sydney for less than $3.50 these days? I’d love to know!
Sydney was also Australia’s only entrant on the list, meaning our other capitals didn’t even get a look in.
So is the Harbour city really the best place to retire? Not if you’re judging on our number of Michelin-starred restaurants: 0.
