Everyone looks forward to the day they can stop working, but far fewer Australians feel confident about when they can actually retire.
Retirement planning isn’t just about age or superannuation balance. It’s about income, lifestyle, health, and whether your financial position can support the life you want to lead over the long term.
All these factors impact the kind of retirement you can expect. There’s no one-size-suits-all retirement, which is why early planning and professional advice are invaluable.
Understanding the Right Time to Retire
You can choose to retire whenever you like. There is no official retirement age in Australia. What does change with age is when you can access superannuation and government support.
Most Australians can access their superannuation once they reach their superannuation access age or “preservation age”. The preservation age is 60 for all Australians, regardless of date of birth.
Age Pension eligibility is different again. As of 2025, it begins at 67, subject to income and asset tests.
This distinction matters. Retiring earlier may mean relying on super, savings, or other income sources for longer, or drawing from a smaller super balance. Retiring later may allow more time for contributions, investment growth or debt reduction, or waiting for Age Pension eligibility.
Neither approach is inherently better. In fact, for many people, retirement is a transition rather than a single moment. So, instead of fixating on the date you want to retire, work backwards from the kind of lifestyle you want in retirement.
Our retirement planning specialists will help you create a holistic retirement strategy that considers financial, emotional and personal readiness.
Financial Readiness: The Foundation of Retirement Planning
Although superannuation is the primary retirement asset for most Australians, there is more to financial planning for retirement than your super balance. We look at your total financial position to determine how you can maintain a stable income throughout retirement.
Superannuation Balance
You might have heard that $1 million is the ideal superannuation balance at retirement. That would be nice, but it’s not realistic for most people. The average Australian aged 65-69 has around $420,000 in retirement savings.
Plus, the super industry peak body, ASFA (The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia), recommends a target well below $1 million, regardless of whether you plan to have what they call a “modest” or “comfortable” retirement.
The real question is not “Is my balance high enough?” but “What level of income can this balance realistically support, and for how long?”
To answer this for our clients we create income models to forecast different outcomes by looking at withdrawal rates, investment returns, inflation, and longevity.
Other Assets and Income Sources
Many retirees rely on income sources beyond superannuation:
- Renting or selling property
- Investment portfolios
- Business interests
- Cash reserves
- Part-time work
These sources all reduce pressure on your super and improve resilience during market downturns.
The critical factor in financial planning for retirement is understanding how these incomes interact and the tax implications. By consulting a retirement planning specialist like Empire Financial Group, you can reposition your portfolio to maximise income potential so you’re not working through your golden years.
Did you know: At the 2021 Census, more than 600,000 Australians aged over 65 were still in the workforce.
Modelling for Uncertainty
Markets don’t move in straight lines, and living costs don’t stay still. Inflation, investment volatility, and unexpected expenses all affect retirement outcomes.
Our scenario modelling allows you to test different financial pathways and possibilities. This kind of modelling helps identify risks early and adjust strategies before they become problems.
Lifestyle and Personal Readiness: Going Beyond Financial Planning For Retirement
What Does Retirement Look Like for You?
Some retirees imagine overseas travel and hobbies they haven’t had time for. Others look forward to quiet time at home, volunteering, or helping out with family. Some downsize their home, others move into a family member’s granny flat, and some stay in the house they’ve lived in for decades.
The lifestyle and housing choices you make impact how much you’ll need to retire comfortably.
It’s also worth remembering that most retirement guides assume you own your home outright. Renting or carrying mortgage debt into retirement puts you in a very different position.
Spending Patterns Change Over Time
Many people spend more in the early, more active years of retirement and less later on. Healthcare, support needs, or family dependents can increase spending again later in life.
Planning for your spending patterns to change allows for more accurate budgeting than assuming a fixed position for decades.
Health and Capacity
Physical and mental health often influence retirement timing as much as finances. Some people choose to retire earlier because work becomes physically demanding or stressful. Others continue working because they enjoy the structure and social connections.
Of course, you can’t know how you’re going to feel in 10 or 15 years. Planning for retirement should account for health costs, including:
- Private health insurance
- Aged care
- Emergency medical expenses
It’s always better to have this buffer than not.
Purpose, Identity and Routine
Personal readiness is about having something meaningful to retire to, not just something to retire from. We like to remind our retirement planning clients that work is closely tied to purpose and identity, and retirement changes that overnight.
People who think ahead about how they’ll spend their time often adjust better. Whether it’s hobbies, volunteering, family, further education, or consulting, there are plenty of ways you can transition into a calmer life without losing your spark.
Government Support and Age Pension Eligibility
The Age Pension can provide a stable base or supplement other retirement income. It’s rarely the sole solution, but it can meaningfully improve financial security when planned for properly.
Eligibility depends on your age, home ownership status, plus your income and assets at the time you apply. The way superannuation is structured and drawn down can also influence eligibility over time.
Integrating potential Age Pension entitlements into your financial planning for retirement helps to set you up for a sustainable income, particularly in later years or uncertain times.
Special Considerations for GESB Members
Retirement planning often looks different for Western Australian public sector employees with GESB accounts.
Some GESB accounts differ significantly from standard retail or industry super funds. Gold State Super, is a defined benefit scheme where retirement outcomes depend on salary history and years of service rather than market returns. In addition, GESB West State members have the potential to make much larger concessionally taxed contributions to super than other Australians. Members of both these GESB funds can make decisions that can materially affect retirement timing, income certainty, and strategy choices.
Understanding how and when you can access benefits, and how they interact with other assets, is essential for retirement lifestyle planning.
Advice from our GESB specialists will help you uncover options that are not immediately obvious from balance statements alone.
When to Seek Professional Retirement Planning Advice
Retirement planning tends to be most effective when it starts 10 to 15 years before your intended retirement date. Small adjustments made over time can significantly change outcomes.
That said, it’s never too early or late to make a plan. Whether you’re assessing readiness, considering early retirement, or planning how to draw income efficiently, our personalised advice and modelling will help you make confident choices.
Ultimately, being ready to retire is not about hitting a particular age or balance. It’s about knowing that you’re in the best position to support the life you want to live.
Speak to Empire Financial Group today to plan your transition into retirement.
