The Retirement Reality Check
"At 55, Sarah thought she was on track for retirement. Her super balance looked healthy at $680,000. Then we ran the numbers."
The truth about retirement in Australia today isn't what most people over 50 expect. I've sat across from hundreds of clients who believed they were prepared, only to discover significant gaps in their planning.
Let me share what actually matters when you're within 15 years of retirement.
The Three Numbers That Matter More Than Your Super Balance
Your superannuation balance is important, but it's not the complete picture. Here's what we actually need to know:
Your Retirement Income Target Most people over 50 have never calculated their actual retirement income need. They've heard figures like "70% of your pre-retirement income" or "$50,000 per year," but these are meaningless without context.
What's your lifestyle worth? Not in aspirational terms, but in actual dollars. Your current mortgage payment, your travel habits, your healthcare costs, your commitment to helping adult children or grandchildren—these all factor in.
I worked with a couple recently who assumed $75,000 per year would be comfortable. When we mapped out their actual lifestyle—including the caravan trips they'd always planned, maintaining two vehicles, and their weekly golf memberships—the real figure was $92,000. That's a 23% gap that would have slowly eroded their retirement quality.
Your Drawdown Strategy This is where most DIY retirement planning falls apart. It's not about how much you have—it's about how you'll access it.
Are you planning to draw from super first and preserve other assets? Will you use a transition to retirement strategy? How will you manage the tax implications of your pension phase? What about sequencing risk in those critical first five years of retirement?
A 60-year-old client came to me with $850,000 in super and $200,000 in offset accounts. She was planning to live off the offset money first to "preserve" her super. On the surface, logical. In practice, she would have paid roughly $47,000 more in tax over her first decade of retirement compared to a structured drawdown approach.
Your Longevity Plan Australians are living longer. A healthy 60-year-old today has a reasonable chance of living to 90 or beyond. That's 30 years of retirement funding.
But here's what concerns me: most people plan for average life expectancy, not longevity. They run out of active lifestyle funding by 75, and run financial risks by 85.
The Superannuation Timing Trap
If you're over 50, your relationship with superannuation is fundamentally different than it was in your 30s or 40s. You're no longer in pure accumulation mode—you're in the transition zone.
This is the danger decade for most people. Between 55 and 65, you have options that won't exist later, but you also have risks that didn't exist earlier:
Contribution cap opportunities you might be missing
Catch-up concessional contributions if you're eligible
The carry-forward unused concessional cap rules
Downsizer contributions if you're 55+
The impact of early access decisions on your final retirement position
Last year, I met with a 58-year-old who had taken $80,000 from his super under the condition of release rules to pay off consumer debt. He didn't realise that $80,000, left invested until 67, would have been worth approximately $145,000 in today's dollars (assuming a conservative 6% return). More importantly, that money in pension phase could have generated tax-free income for decades.
The Asset Structure Question Nobody Asks
Here's a question I ask every client over 50: "If you couldn't touch your superannuation, could you survive for three years?"
The answer reveals everything about your asset structure resilience.
Superannuation is magnificent for retirement, but it's also restricted. What if you need to retire earlier than planned due to health or redundancy? What if you want to help a child with a house deposit at 58? What if you need liquid assets for an emergency?
I'm not suggesting you avoid superannuation—far from it. But the clients who retire with confidence are those who have built strategic liquidity outside super while maximising their superannuation position.
The Partner Equation
If you're married or in a partnership, your retirement isn't just about your balance—it's about your combined strategy.
I recently worked with a couple where he had $720,000 in super and she had $240,000. They were planning to retire together at 65. The problem? They hadn't considered the tax efficiency of rebalancing their superannuation holdings, the impact on their combined pension income cap, or how to structure their retirement income to optimise their tax position as a couple.
Through strategic rebalancing (perfectly legal through contribution splitting and recontribution strategies), we improved their projected retirement income by $8,200 per year—money that will compound over a 25+ year retirement.
What Action Actually Looks Like
If you're over 50, you don't need motivation. You need a clear plan with specific next steps.
That means:
A detailed retirement income projection based on your actual life, not generic assumptions
An asset structure review that considers tax, access, and flexibility
A superannuation strategy for your final 10-15 working years
A transition plan that accounts for the complexity of moving from employment to retirement
The clients who thrive in retirement aren't the ones with the biggest balances. They're the ones who planned specifically, acted strategically, and understood their complete financial picture.
Your Next Step
If you're over 50 and you haven't had a comprehensive retirement planning session in the past 18 months, you're making decisions in an information vacuum.
This article provides general information only and does not consider your specific circumstances. Before making investment decisions, consider speaking with a licensed financial adviser.