Retirement
Retirement is where you stop working and permanently withdraw from the workforce. The goal of superannuation is to help you save money while you are working to support you financially in retirement i.e. when you’re no longer working.
Retirement age
Everyone’s retirement age is different and depends on your occupation, financial position, health and other circumstances. The government sets the age you can access the government age pension. Currently this is 65 years, increasing to 66 years on 1 July 2019 and 67 years on 1 July 2023. You can generally access your super when you reach your preservation age and retire, or reach age 65 whether you are retired or not.
Retirement income
Your retirement income is how you will fund your lifestyle when you stop working. Your income in retirement will depend on how much money you have in your super account, whether you are eligible to receive a full or part government age pension, and if you own your own home or have other assets. Sunsuper can help you work out how much income you may need in retirement. And our retirement forecaster can help you work out how long your super could last you in retirement based on your desired retirement income and other factors. Depending on your super balance, once you retire (or reach age 65) you may be able to draw a retirement income from your super through a Retirement Income Account.
Superannuation retirement age
You can generally access your super when you reach your preservation age and retire, or when you reach age 65 whether you are retired or not. Your preservation age depends on when you were born. If you were born before 1 July 1960, your preservation age is 55 years. If you were born after 1 July 1964, it is 60 years. For those born between these dates, your preservation age will be somewhere between 56 and 59 years. So, if you were born between 1 July 1960 and 30 June 1961, your preservation age is 56; between 1 July 1961 and 30 June 1962, your preservation age is 57; between 1 July 1962 and 30 June 1963, your preservation age is 58; and between 1 July 1963 and 30 June 1964, your preservation age is 59. Depending on your super balance, once you reach your preservation age and retire or reach age 65, you may be able to draw a retirement income from your super through a Retirement Income Account.