How much do you need to retire

Retirement is personal and planning early can make a big difference

Feeling confident about your retirement is more than just money, it’s about understanding your finances, ways to stay healthy, connecting with friends and family and setting goals for your future.

Our Planning your retirement guide makes it easy for you to take the first step. It’s filled with practical information that’s designed to help you plan with confidence.

4 ways that could help build your confidence:

Financial awareness and skills – use tools that support your literacy, mindset and control while reducing financial anxiety.
Health and wellbeing – your mental and physical health matters so think about ways you could stay active.
Social factors – staying connected with friends, family and your local community.
Goal setting – having positive goals for your future can help give you a sense of purpose.

Whether it’s using our budget planner for your expenses, learning about contribution types or reducing your hours of work but keeping your same take-home pay – take control of your retirement plan today.

Planning your retirement guide

6 lifestyle factors to consider when planning for your future

When creating your plan, a great place to start is thinking about the kind of lifestyle you desire and then how much it will cost you.

Housing cost

If you own your house, consider if you need to do any renovations while you’re still working towards your retirement. You might explore downsizing and potentially boosting your super savings¹. If you rent, maybe you’d like to rent a larger/smaller property to suit your needs.

Travelling near or far

You may consider travelling while working towards your retirement or once you finish work. Whether it’s close-to-home, overseas or visiting loved ones living interstate, planning early can help you prepare for these expenses.

Transport

Will your current car be your last one or will you need to upgrade now to last a little longer? Consider how your transportation costs might change and how this could affect your overall expenses.

Family and/or dependants

Maybe you have loved ones you’d like to help financially. Or you might have adult children returning to live with you for a period of time. Consider whether you’d like to set money aside for your family and additional expenses.

Health and medical

Consider how your health might change as you get older. Have you budgeted for additional medical expenses? This could include any changes to your private health insurance fees.

Hobbies and interests

Maybe you’re looking forward to taking up painting, or 18 holes on the golf course each week. It’s important to make sure you’ve got money put aside to enjoy yourself once you’ve stopped working.

How much could your lifestyle cost

Part of your retirement plan is understanding the lifestyle you want in retirement, how much that lifestyle will cost and how you’ll fund your life after work.

Whether you’re aiming to maintain your current lifestyle or prefer something more modest, your retirement needs will be unique. What feels 'comfortable' or 'modest' varies from person to person, which is why having a standard benchmark can help you compare and plan with confidence.

The table below is based on the The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) Retirement Standard².

Retirement type	Comfortable retirement	Modest retirement	Age pension-based retirement
What can it afford?	Regular leisure activities Occasional restaurant meals, home-delivery meals, take-away coffee Own a reasonable car Budget for home improvements Domestic and occasional overseas trips Premium private health insurance	Occasional leisure activities Limited meals out at inexpensive restaurants, infrequent home-delivery or take-away Own a basic car Budget for small home repairs One annual domestic holiday or a few short breaks Basic private health insurance	No or low-cost leisure activities Inexpensive takeaway or local club special meals Limited budget to own, maintain or repair a car No budget for home repairs Very short breaks or day trips in your city No private health insurance
Single household budget (for those aged 65-84)	$52,383 per year	$33,386 per year	$29,874 per year
Couple household budget (for those aged 65-84)	$73,875 per year	$48,184 per year	$45,037 per year

Important tip: If you own your home, a good rule-of-thumb is that you’ll need about two-thirds of your pre-retirement income to maintain the same lifestyle in retirement³.

Retirement Income Calculator

If you’re looking to stop working and step into retirement in the next 12–24 months or you're already retired, our Retirement Income Calculator can help you understand:

how much money you could have to spend each year once you retire, based on your current super balance.
how fees, investment options, and contributions could affect your retirement income.
how different contribution scenarios could grow your super.
how the Age Pension could impact your retirement budget.

You’ll need to know your current super balance to get started. You can check your current account balance via the mobile app or logging into your account online.

Use our calculator

How you could fund your retirement

Having thought about the kind of lifestyle you want to have, the next step is to look at ways to fund your retirement.

The most common is the money in your super account. You may have investments or savings outside of super, and assets like your home.

For most people, their retirement income is a combination of their super savings and the Age Pension, if eligible.

Your super savings

A lot of people think that when you’re eligible to access your super savings, your only option is to withdraw super. However, you can unlock access to income streams that could help support your retirement journey.

While you’re still working, TTR Income could help you get a taste of life after work by using some of your super savings to top up your take-home pay⁴.

When you’re eligible, you could turn your super savings into tax-free income in your retirement years by opening an account-based pension like our Choice Income account

The Government Age Pension

The Age Pension is a fortnightly payment designed to help eligible Australians over 67 pay for basic expenses in retirement.

Investments, savings and assets that you own

This could include things like savings in a bank account, income from investment properties, and shares you’ve previously invested in.

Ways to build your super savings

If you want to grow your super, here’s a few steps that could make a significant difference over time.

Consider consolidating your super
Consolidating your super into one account could reduce fees and help you manage your account more easily⁵.

Before-tax contributions
Making before-tax contributions could boost your super savings and potentially reduce your taxable income¹.

After-tax contributions
Use your take-home pay to make after-tax contributions to your super¹.

Review your investment options
Consider whether your investment options are still right for your financial goals

Contribute for your spouse
Spouse contributions or contributions splitting could boost your partner’s super if they’re not working².

Your education and advice options

You have access to a range of advice services that could help you better understand your finances and plan for your future retirement.

Important information
1. Before adding to your super, consider your financial circumstances, eligibility, contribution caps that may apply, tax issues and when your super can be accessed. We recommend you consider seeking financial advice.
2. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) Retirement Standard for homeowners aged 65 to 84 for the March quarter 2025. Learn more here
3. MoneySmart - How much super you need. Viewed September 2025. Read more here
4. Transition to Retirement (TTR) can be complex and isn’t suited to everyone. It’s a good idea to get financial advice before deciding if a TTR Income account is right for you.
5. Before making a decision to combine your super, consider any fees or charges that may apply, and the effect a transfer may have on benefits in your other fund such as insurance cover. We recommend you consider seeking financial advice. If you wish to claim a tax deduction for personal super contributions, you must lodge a notice of intent to claim a tax deduction with your other fund before you combine your super.
6. There’s no charge for general advice about your super account. The financial advice you receive will be provided by MUFG Retire360 Pty Limited ABN 36 105 811 836, AFSL 258145 and will be their responsibility. Personal advice provided may attract a fee, which will be outlined before any work is completed and is subject to your agreement.
7. Personal financial product advice is provided under the Australian Financial Services Licence held by a third party and not by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd. Some personal advice may attract a fee, which would be outlined before any work is completed and is subject to your agreement. With your approval, the fee for advice relating to your AustralianSuper account may be deducted from your AustralianSuper account subject to eligibility criteria.