How Much Super You Should Have at 45, 50, 55 and 60 (The Brutal Truth)

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]I'm going to give you four numbers [music] today, one for each age. 45, 50, 55, and 60. These are the numbers [music] you should have in your super right now if you want to retire comfortably. Not survive, not scrape by [music] on baked beans and free-to-air television. Actually live.

[00:00:22]And then, I'm going to show you what most Australians actually have at each of those ages.

[00:00:28]The gap between [music] the two is going to make some of you feel great and most of you feel sick. But here's the thing, knowing the gap is the first step to closing it. And depending on where you are right now, you might have more time than you think. [music] Or, and I'm not going to sugarcoat this, you might have less.

[00:00:47]Let's go.

[00:00:48]Before we hit the ages, let me explain where these numbers come from. Because I'm not making them up, and I'm not pulling [music] them from some dodgy blog. The actual balances, what Australians really have, come from the ATO. The Australian [music] Tax Office publishes superannuation statistics every year. The latest data [music] is from the 2023-24 financial year. It covers every super account in the country. The target balances, what [music] you need, come from ASFA, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia.

[00:01:22][music] They publish the retirement standard, which says a comfortable retirement for a single person [music] costs about $52,000 a year. For a couple, about $73,000.

[00:01:34]To fund that, [music] a single person needs around $630,000 at retirement age. A couple needs [music] $690,000.

[00:01:44]Now, a quick but important distinction.

[00:01:46]The ATO publishes two numbers, [music] the average and the median. The average is misleading because a small number of people with [music] $3,000,000 in super pull the whole number up. The median is the middle. [music] Half of Australians have more, half have less. That's the honest number. I'll give you both. Right. Let's start at 45.

[00:02:09]Age 45.

[00:02:11]Here's a bloke I'll call Steve. [music] He's 45, lives in Western Sydney, works as an electrician. Been paying super since he was 20. [music] Never made a voluntary contribution in his life. Never looked at his super fund. [music] Couldn't tell you the name of it if you put a gun to his head.

[00:02:29]Steve has about $110,000 in super. And Steve is almost exactly average. The ATO [music] says the median super balance for Australians aged 45 to 49 is about $108,000. [music] The average is higher, around $192,500, but that's dragged up by high earners.

[00:02:50]The median is where most [music] people sit.

[00:02:53]Now, what should Steve have?

[00:02:56]ASFA's modeling says that to [music] reach $630,000 by age 67, enough for a comfortable retirement as a single, you need approximately [music] $239,000 at age 45.

[00:03:10]>> [music] >> Some models say $320,000.

[00:03:14]Steve has $110,000. [music] The target is $239,000.

[00:03:21]He's $129,000 [music] short. That's a 54% gap. But here's the good news for every [music] Steve watching this. He's got 22 years. That's 22 years of employer contributions [music] at 12%. 22 years of compound returns, and 22 years where even small voluntary contributions can close a massive gap.

[00:03:47]If Steve starts salary sacrificing [music] $200 a week right now, pre-tax, and his super earns 7% per [music] year, he adds roughly $310,000 on top of his existing $110,000 [music] and normal employer contributions. He crosses $630,000 [music] well before 67. $200 a week, [music] a car payment. That's the difference between comfortable and surviving for Steve. At 45, [music] the gap is big, but the runway is long. This is the [music] easiest age to fix it.

[00:04:26]Age 50.

[00:04:28]Meet Linda. She's 50, lives in Brisbane, works part-time in admin after [music] spending eight years out of the workforce raising her kids.

[00:04:37]Her super took a massive hit during those years. [music] No contributions, no growth, just sitting there.

[00:04:44]Linda >> [music] >> has $95,000.

[00:04:47]The ATO median for 50 to 54 is about $140,500. [music] The average is $253,000. [music] Linda is below the median, and she knows it. She checks her super [music] app once a year, feels a bit sick, and closes it.

[00:05:07]What should Linda have at 50? Around on track for ASFA [music] comfortable.

[00:05:15]Some models say $496,500. [music] Linda is $325,000 [music] short. That gap looks terrifying, but Linda has something [music] going for her that she doesn't realize.

[00:05:31]First, she's back at work. Even part-time, her employer [music] is paying 12% super. That's automatic money going in every [music] pay cycle.

[00:05:42]Second, and this is the one nobody talks about, the super catch-up rules. Since 2019, if your super balance is under $500,000, [music] you can carry forward any unused concessional contribution cap from the last [music] 5 years. The annual cap is $30,000.

[00:06:02]If Linda hasn't used that full cap in previous years, she could potentially contribute up to $150,000 in catch-up contributions [music] over the next few years, pre-tax. That's a huge [music] accelerator.

[00:06:16]Third, Linda is going to get the age pension. With $95,000 [music] in super at 50, even with solid growth, she'll likely be under the full pension [music] threshold at 67. The pension isn't a consolation prize. [music] It's $31,200 a year. Combined with a modest super [music] drawdown, Linda can still have a decent retirement. Not luxurious, but not the disaster she imagines lying awake [music] at 2:00 a.m.

[00:06:47]At 50, the gap hurts, but the system has catch-up tools most people don't know about. Age 55.

[00:06:55]This is the age [music] where it gets real.

[00:06:58]Meet Doug. He's 55, lives on the Central [music] Coast, worked his whole career in logistics, never missed a day.

[00:07:06]His employer's been paying super for 30 years.

[00:07:10]Doug has $185,000. [music] The ATO median for 55 to 59 is about $185,000. [music] Doug is right on the money, exactly average, and he feels okay about that, until [music] he sees the target.

[00:07:27]ASFA says you need about $530,000 at 55 to be on track [music] for comfortable. Some models say higher.

[00:07:36]Doug is $345,000 short, [music] and he's only got 12 years until 67.

[00:07:43][music] This is the age where the maths stops being kind. At 45, compound growth does [music] the heavy lifting. At 50, catch-up contributions can close the gap. At 55, you're running [music] out of runway.

[00:07:58]Doug has three options. One, work longer. Every year past 67 [music] that Doug works, he adds another $15,000 to $20,000 in employer contributions, plus the returns on his existing [music] balance. Working at 70 instead of 67 could add $80,000 to $120,000 [music] to his retirement pot. Not exciting, but effective.

[00:08:22]Two, make [music] maximum concessional contributions. If Doug can get his total super contributions up to $30,000 per year, [music] including his employer's 12%, and his balance is under $500,000, [music] the catch-up rule still apply.

[00:08:37]Every dollar that goes in pre-tax [music] saves him marginal tax, and grows inside super at a maximum 15% tax rate. Three, >> [music] >> accept the pension as part of the plan.

[00:08:49]Doug at $185,000 is almost certainly going to be under the full pension threshold at 67. That means he gets the full $31,200 per year in age pension, plus the pensioner concession card. His super draw down tops it up. Combined income, roughly $40,000 to $45,000 per year.

[00:09:12]That's modest, but it's livable.

[00:09:14]Here's what Doug should not do.

[00:09:16]>> [music] >> Panic and throw money into a high-risk super option hoping for a miracle return.

[00:09:22]I've seen blokes at 55 [music] switch their super from balanced to aggressive chasing growth. Then the market drops 15%, [music] and they've just lost 3 years of contributions in 6 months.

[00:09:34]At 55, you're protecting what you have, not gambling with it. Age 60. [music] Meet Jenny. She's 60, lives in Adelaide.

[00:09:43]Worked as a teacher for 32 years.

[00:09:46]Recently went part-time, [music] 3 days a week.

[00:09:49]Jenny has $350,000 [music] in super.

[00:09:53]The ATO median for 60 to 64 is about $220,500.

[00:09:59]The average is [music] about $402,000.

[00:10:02]Jenny's above the median and just below the average. She's doing better [music] than most. But the target ASFA says $630,000 at 67 [music] for comfortable. She needs roughly $496,500 [music] at 60 to be on track.

[00:10:22]Some models say $650,000.

[00:10:26]Jenny is $146,000 short with 7 years to go.

[00:10:31]Now, here's where it [music] gets interesting. At 60, something changes.

[00:10:36]You hit preservation age. That means you can access [music] your super if you leave your job, even before 67. You can start a [music] transition to retirement pension while still working part-time.

[00:10:49]Jenny's already doing [music] 3 days a week. She could set up a TTR pension, drawing a small amount from super while her employer continues paying into her accumulation [music] account. The money goes around in a circle, but the tax structure in her favor. Her take-home [music] pay stays roughly the same, but the tax she pays drops. More money stays [music] in the system.

[00:11:15]But the biggest lever for Jenny is simpler than all of that.

[00:11:20]Jenny has 7 years of employer contributions [music] left. At her teacher salary, that's roughly $12,000 to $15,000 a year going into super automatically.

[00:11:32]Over 7 years, that's 84,000 [music] to 105,000 dollars in contributions alone before any investment returns. [music] Add 6% net returns on her existing 350,000 dollars, and Jenny could realistically hit 550 to 600,000 dollars by 67.

[00:11:53]Not quite [music] as for comfortable, but combined with a part pension, because you'll be just above the full pension threshold, her total retirement [music] income sits around 48,000 to 52,000 dollars a year. Not bad. Not luxurious, but [music] Jenny's fine. She just doesn't know it yet, because she's been comparing [music] herself to a target that assumes she gets zero pension. All right, let me [music] put this all together, because the numbers alone don't tell the full story. The ATO median super balance in Australia [music] right now, across all ages, is about 75,000 dollars. Most Australians [music] have less super than they think they need.

[00:12:38]That's the bad news. The good news? The retirement [music] system in Australia is not just your super. It's super plus the age pension, plus [music] your home equity, plus any savings outside super.

[00:12:51]When you add those together, most Australians end up closer to comfortable [music] than the scary headline suggest.

[00:12:58]But, and this is the important part, you have to know your number. Not the average, not the target, [music] your number.

[00:13:07]Log in to your super fund today and check. Then come back here and figure out which of these four ages you're closest to, and what [music] moves you can make. If you're 45, you've got time.

[00:13:20]Use it. Even 100 dollars a week in extra contributions will change your retirement.

[00:13:26]If you're 50, check the catch-up contribution rules. You might have $150,000 in unused caps sitting [music] there.

[00:13:35]If you're 55, stop panicking and start planning. [music] The pension is not failure. It's a $31,200 a year foundation.

[00:13:47]If you're 60, you're closer [music] than you think. Run the numbers with pension included, not just super [music] alone.

[00:13:55]Drop your age and your super balance in the comments. I read every single one.

[00:14:00]And if you want to see what retirement actually looks like [music] at different balances, that video is on screen right now.

[00:14:07]I'm the Retired Aussie. I'll see you in the next one.