What is the Age Pension age?
The current qualifying age for the Age Pension is 67.
To be eligible for a full or part Age Pension from the government, you must have reached Age Pension age and satisfied an income / assets test, as well as other requirements.
If you're eligible for the Age Pension, the amount you'll receive will depend on whether you're single, a couple or illness separated couple, along with the amount of income you earn and the total value of your assets (such as property, investments and cars, but excluding the home you live in). Super is assessed under both the income and assets test.
The Age Pension is made up of a basic rate, as well as a pension supplement and energy supplement. There are different rates of Age Pension payments for single and partnered people.
See the current Age Pension rates.
When can you access your retirement savings?
Generally, it’s only possible to access your super after you’ve reached your ‘preservation age’ - age 60.
Although you can start accessing some of your super once you reach age 60, you won’t have full access to your super until you’ve also met a condition of release.
You can start accessing some of your super in the form of an income stream while you’re still working and have reached age 60. If, however, you want to withdraw your super as a cash lump sum, you need to meet a condition of release. Conditions of release, which allow you to receive lump sums from your super, include:
- Turning 65 (even if you haven’t retired)
- Reach age 60 or terminate employment/self-employment or retire
- Satisfy an early access condition of release, such as permanent incapacity, compassionate grounds or financial hardship.
Retirement means you have ceased employment, including self-employment, either:
- When you were 60 years old or over or
- At any time and have no intention of returning to work for 10 hours or more each week. See our article on the various ways you can access your retirement savings.
How much do you need to retire?
The amount needed each year in retirement may affect your retirement age. It will be different for everyone, but the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) estimates that Australians aged 65-84 who own their own home and are in relatively good health, will need the following amount of money each year (June quarter 2024):1
| Total per year |
Comfortable lifestyle p.a. |
Modest lifestyle p.a. |
Couple
|
Single
|
Couple
|
Single
|
$73,337
|
$52,085
|
$47,731
|
$33,134
|
The figures in each case assume that the retiree(s) own their own home and relate to expenditure by the household. This can be greater than household income after income tax where there is a drawdown on capital over the period of retirement.
Planning for retirement
There’s no magic retirement age, and it’s a very personal decision. Deciding when to retire will depend on a range of factors, and you’ll need to consider what kind of lifestyle you want to have in retirement. You’ll also need to understand whether you’ll have enough money to support this.
To ensure you have sufficient funds to enjoy your retirement, use our:
- range of tools and resources to help kick-start your retirement planning
- refer to our retirement planning guide to help you prepare well for retirement and get a handle on what to expect when that momentous day arrives
- consider speaking to a financial adviser. They can help you determine how much you should save and invest each month to reach your retirement goals, and whether your investment strategy is right for you. They can also identify any tax savings or government benefits that may be available to you.
