Plan the move from work to retirement.

MoneySmart, last updated 12 August 2026, cites ASFA’s Retirement Standard (accessed March 2026): a single homeowner is guided to $630,000 at age 67 for a comfortable retirement, or $110,000 for a modest one ($340,000 if renting). Those figures assume Age Pension where it applies and are guides, not a personal target. Start from the spending you want to cover, then test how long your super and any Age Pension would last.

You can usually access super from age 60 if you’ve retired or left a job, and from 65 whether you’re still working or not. That’s MoneySmart, last updated 6 August 2026. From 60 while you keep working, a transition to retirement income stream may let you access some of it — and if you've already ceased a separate job after 60, part of your super may be unrestricted.

Preservation age is the earliest age you can access super if you’ve retired, or start a transition to retirement income stream. The ATO says it isn’t the same as Age Pension age. If you were born after 30 June 1964, your preservation age is 60.

It’s the event that unlocks your super. The common ones are retiring at or after your preservation age, ceasing an employment arrangement at or after 60, and turning 65 — that last one works whether you have retired or not. Permanent incapacity, terminal illness and death are conditions of release too. There are also limited ones that release only part of the balance, such as severe financial hardship and compassionate grounds. Until you meet one, the money stays where it is, however much you would like it not to.

A USI — Unique Superannuation Identifier — is the number that tells a payroll system exactly which super product to pay into. Funds often run several products, so the fund name alone is not enough: the ABN identifies the fund, the USI identifies the product inside it. You will find it on your annual statement, on the fund’s website, or through the government’s Super Fund Lookup. If you are starting a job or rolling money over and you give the wrong one, the money can end up in the wrong account.

It’s a single all-in yearly figure that funds must publish for a $50,000 balance in a given investment option, so that two funds can be compared without unpicking three different fee tables. It rolls up administration fees, investment fees and costs, and transaction costs. It does not include insurance premiums, advice fees or activity fees, and it is calculated on $50,000 rather than on your balance — so treat it as a comparison tool, not as your bill.

MySuper is the default. If you have never chosen an investment option, your employer’s contributions go into your fund’s MySuper product, and by law it has to be a simple, comparable, no-frills option with a standard set of fees. Most Australians are in one without ever having picked it. That is not a criticism of them — a MySuper option is a perfectly sensible place for a lot of people to be — but it is worth knowing that it was a default rather than a decision.

It is the part of your super you could withdraw today, without meeting anything further. Most super is preserved, meaning it is locked until you meet a condition of release. An unrestricted non-preserved amount is money that has already cleared that hurdle — often because a condition was met years ago, or because it dates from before the preservation rules tightened in 1999. If your statement shows one, it is worth knowing about before you assume everything is locked away.

It is the lifetime limit on how much you can move into a retirement-phase income stream, where investment earnings are generally tax-free. The ATO set the general cap at $2.1 million for 2026–27. Your own cap can be lower, depending on what you have already transferred. Money above the cap is not lost — it can stay in an accumulation account, where earnings are taxed at up to 15% instead.

A small cost charged when money moves in or out of an investment option, covering the fund’s own cost of buying or selling the underlying assets. It is not an extra fee the fund keeps; it is built into the unit price rather than deducted from your account, which is why it can be invisible on a statement. Many funds now have none at all. It matters most if you switch options often.

Concessional contributions go in before tax — compulsory employer contributions, salary sacrifice, and personal contributions you claim a deduction for. They are taxed at 15% on the way in, and there is an annual cap. Non-concessional contributions come from money you have already paid tax on, so there is no further tax going in, and the cap is larger. Which one suits you depends on your income, your balance and how close you are to retiring, and getting it wrong can trigger extra tax — so it is worth checking before you contribute rather than after.

From preservation age you can start a transition to retirement income stream while you keep working. MoneySmart (18 June 2026) and the ATO (5 June 2026) say you must take between 4% and 10% of the TTR balance each financial year, and you can’t take a lump sum. Payments from 60 are tax-free; investment earnings in TTR stay taxed at 15% until the account moves to the retirement phase at 65.

Age Pension age is 67. Services Australia says there are no plans to change this. You also need to meet residency rules, and entitlement is generally worked out under the income and assets tests. MoneySmart, last updated 18 June 2026, lists the maximum basic rates as $1,100.30 a fortnight for a single person and $1,658.80 combined for a couple, not including supplements.

Once an account-based pension is in the retirement phase, you must take at least the government minimum each year: 4% if you’re under 65, 5% from 65 to 74, then higher percentages as you get older (ATO, 2023–24 onwards; MoneySmart, 2 July 2026). There’s no maximum once you’ve retired or turned 65. A transition to retirement income stream is capped at 10% of the balance each year.

A retirement income stream is usually an account-based pension: regular payments from super after you meet a condition of release. From 60 those payments are generally tax-free from a taxed fund, and investment earnings in the retirement phase are usually tax-free (MoneySmart, 2 July 2026). It lasts until the balance runs out.

No. Advice starts with the fund or scheme you already have. We work across industry, government and corporate funds, and any later recommendation to stay, change an option or move is based on your circumstances.

Nothing. It’s a free half hour. Tell us the change you’re considering and we’ll explain if and how we can help, including any fees, before you decide to go ahead.