Four ways to solve the retirement puzzle

1 October, 2026

By Paula Benson, Chief Strategy Officer, AustralianSuper

Retirement is a confusing puzzle for too many Australians and more of us will be facing it as millions of people are due to retire in the next decade.

People are living longer and longevity is revealing our systems don't work together as effectively as they could.

Members don't experience the superannuation, tax, welfare and healthcare systems separately. They experience retirement as a single journey – but often a disconnected and muddled one.

The federal government sees an opportunity to make retirement easier for people to understand. So do we.

As with any puzzle, it makes sense to start with the four corners. We've identified four practical corners of government data that will help us piece together a member's retirement picture.

This would be an opt-in – something like 'do you want to give your super fund these details so it can help you plan for your retirement?'

Funds are in a great position to help people realise their dreams – as long as we know enough about where members are at.

Corner one is pretty simple. Confirm the data that funds already hold about members to make sure we’ve got the right person. Date of birth, name, address, Tax File Number.

The next corner is also pretty easy. This is people's work status and employment income.

This signals to a fund whether someone is still in paid employment, reducing hours, or has stopped work. It would allow funds to send retirement guidance communications to members at the right time to best support you.

And to be clear, this is not a request for broad and ongoing access to personal information.

It is a targeted, consent-based mechanism, best done with the ATO, and limited to the fields that are genuinely relevant to retirement planning.

The third corner is a bit more complex but it comes down to money. How much cash does a member have already?

The 'Cash Corner' makes a huge difference to retirement planning, for obvious reasons.

The government holds useful data on this. One point is the list of a member's Capital Gains Tax events – for instance, the sale of an investment property or shares.

A significant CGT event indicates wealth held outside superannuation. This helps funds understand whether a member's super balance is their primary retirement asset or one of several.

That will help funds make better predictions about whether a member is eligible for the Age Pension or not. It also means funds can give more tailored investment advice, and suggest more sustainable drawdown strategies.

Another government data point in this corner is Employment Termination Payments received. Getting a redundancy in your 60s is often a strong signal that a member has left the workforce and may want to retire.

If someone consents to share these data fields for this purpose, super funds will be able to reach out and give that member timely advice about their retirement options at a point when it is extremely relevant to them.

Also in Cash Corner is information about other super balances. Some people have multiple super accounts, so identifying their total superannuation picture is key.

The last corner is couple status. This can significantly impact Age Pension eligibility, so information about whether a member has a partner and their financial status will improve the accuracy of predictions.

If members are allowed to give their funds access to those four key puzzle pieces, we can help them plan better for their retirement.

That planning is more necessary than ever before.

This year's United Nations International Day of Older Persons focuses on 'The Age of Longevity: Rethinking Systems for Longer Lives'.

It is a timely challenge for Australia.

About one in five Australians is projected to be over 65 by 2066¹, while the number of centenarians is expected to grow dramatically in coming decades.

We need their retirement picture to be much clearer than it currently is.

Many people reduce their hours rather than stop work altogether. Others move between work, caring responsibilities and volunteering.

Their retirement income may come from superannuation, the Age Pension and personal savings, each governed through different systems and processes.

Everyone has a different picture of what they'll do when they stop work.

With these practical steps from the government, funds can give every member a clearer vision of their retirement.