As our primary form of national retirement security, the superannuation system is one that produces different outcomes for different people. Many factors will influence one's super balance. These include the investments your super is put into, as well as how long your fund has to compound. Of course, how much money you put into it matters as well.
It's usually considered inappropriate to enquire about others' financial means. As such, most of us probably know how much money is in our own super fund, and maybe our partners' fund, but with nothing to compare it to.
So today, let's discuss what the average super balance for the average Australian at age 60 is, and for other ages as well. 60 is an important age to reach for most Australians, as this is the 'preservation age' that most of us qualify for. If you were born before 1 July 1964, you will probably have a lower preservation age.
The preservation age is the age when we are allowed to finally access our super and begin using it to fund living expenses.
Financial services provider AMP has recently released a report detailing the average superannuation balance at various ages. and it makes for some interesting reading.
What is the average superannuation balance at 60?
According to the report, the average superannuation balance for someone aged between 55 and 59 is $316,457 for men and $236,530 for women.
For those aged between 60 and 64, it is $402,838 for men and $318,203 for women.
It's normal for super balance to compound and exponentially grow as we approach our preservation ages and retirement.
For example, the same report found that the average super balances for those aged between 25 and 29 were $25,981 for men and $23,429 for women. But that rises to $95,937 and $75,785 respectively for the ages between 35 and 39.
But let's talk about how much you should have in super.
How much super do I need to retire?
The AMP report estimated that in order to fund what it called a 'comfortable lifestyle', one would need an annual retirement income of $50,207.02 for singles. For couples, it's $70,806.43.
For a 'modest lifestyle', those amounts drop to $31,867.31 and $45,946.62 respectively.
Under the 4% rule, this would imply someone reaching their preservation age should have roughly $1.25 million in their super accounts to fund a comfortable lifestyle for singles. For a modest lifestyle. it's a balance of approximately $795,000.
It seems we have a long way to go until the average super account balance can fund a comfortable retirement.
