How early can you retire? These are the key dates and ages to know
As you look towards retirement, you’ll find there's some critical dates that stand out as signposts along the path - dates we can retire, access our super, qualify for the pension and contribute too.
How early can you retire? These are the key dates to know
There’s a lot of confusion surrounding the retirement process, from the steps leading up to retirement to navigating life post-retirement. And as you try to navigate things, you’ll find there are some critical dates that stand out as signposts along the retirement path.
These dates determine when we can access our superannuation, qualify for age pension payments, and even optimise our super. So, I like to make sure people think about, understand and stay mindful of these pivotal retirement ages in Australia, so they can seize every opportunity to have a great retirement.
The first critical retirement milestone to be aware of is reaching 60 years of age. This marks what’s known as the preservation age for Australians under 60 today, which is the age that you can get access to your superannuation under a couple of conditions.
At 60, you can choose to cease work and transition your superannuation into the retirement phase, either drawing it down as a lump sum or start an account-based pension income stream.
Once superannuation is converted into the retirement phase, your income drawn from it becomes tax-free, as long as the amount is under the $1.9 million transfer balance cap which dictates how much you can transfer into the retirement phase. The rest of your funds, if you have more, will need to stay in accumulation where the earnings are taxed at 15 per cent up to $3 million and 30 per cent after that from 2025.
It is important to point out that you can re-enter the workforce after you shift your superannuation fund into the retirement phase, which we are seeing more and more people do, with access to their superannuation and a tax-free income stream. And in this case, they simply maintain an accumulation account for their contributions, separate to their retirement account.
You can retire before 60, but you can’t draw on super except in exceptional circumstances.
Additionally, at 60 you can continue working and typically access up to 10 per cent of your superannuation per year using a transition to retirement income stream. You cannot draw out lump sums from superannuation during a transition to retirement process. It can only offer you an income stream.
And finally at or after 60 you may access the benefits offered by Seniors Cards depending on your state’s age limits, if you meet their other eligibility criteria which often includes reducing your work hours or retiring.
I don’t know many 60-year-olds who are willing to be called a senior citizen any more, except when they are eligible for these healthy discounts on public transport, goods and services and professional services.
You can retire before 60, but you can’t draw on super except in exceptional circumstances like severe financial hardship or permanent disability.
The second critical age to be aware of is the turning point of 65. At this age, people over 65 can access their superannuation funds without conditions relating to their work. This means you can keep working and withdraw your super as a lump sum or kick off an account-based pension income stream.
This is the point where many people seek advice to consider whether they should draw down a lump sum to pay off their mortgage. They also seek advice to review their investments to be more suitable for the risk appetite they have in this stage of life.
At 65, if you keep working you can keep contributing to super. In fact, whether you are working or not, you can leverage both the different types of contributions, concessional and non-concessional to the age of 75.
The rest of this article can be read in full in print and digital in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Brisbane Times and WA Today Money section today. You can read it here (without a paywall).
If we want to live longer, better quality lives then we need to look after our cardio metabolic health. And, one of Australia's leading heart and longevity experts has just had his recommendations published and acknowledged in the European Heart Journal. So this week we talked to him about his TOP TEN TIPS to help Prime Timers keep on top of their cardiovascular health.
In this episode, I speak to Professor Luigi Fontana from the University of Sydney, about his report outlining 'Ten tips for promoting cardiometabolic health and slowing cardiovascular aging': It's basically a blue-print for living a long and healthy life.
While many of the tips are well-known (surprise - smoking and drinking are on the naughty list), there are some BIG surprises, which may be the missing pieces of the puzzle for slowing down cardiovascular decline.
Listen now
LISTEN HERE - LATEST EDITION (E18) - OMNY
or listen on APPLE PODCASTS
The next How to Have an Epic Retirement Flagship Course kicks off in May/June
Find out more and register your interest here.
I am taking expressions of interest for the next Epic Retirement 6 week program which is being set up for May/June/July. We’re up to week 4 of the Mar/April program and I could not be happier with the feedback! We’ve had even more awesome feedback this week, including:
“This week's content was excellent, so informative and communicated in an easy-to-understand manner. I am really enjoying this course and so pleased I enrolled.”
“Loving the course. I was a little hesitant to sign up but I am so glad I did. It is worth every penny. I may have to revisit some sections to gain solidify the learning in the financial sections though.” and
“Loving the course so far, getting a lot out of it - thank you!”
So if you want to get in on our next one, sign up for the information here. There will be limited earlybird-priced spots this time.
Last call for responses on the Epic ‘Retirement Planning’ Survey
We’ve had a wonderful response - thank-you. If you still want to contribute today really is the ‘last call’.
It’s an important survey that will allow me to better understand you and guide the industry to give you more of what you need. It dives into how you feel about the process of ‘retirement planning,’ what tools you are using and how you are progressing. It also gives me a read on how confident you feel, and what you might need to help you.
It’s all multi-choice so it should be quick and easy. And, you might find some of the questions really get you thinking about the process of retiring, and what you could be doing vs what you are doing. So dive in and help me out - please.