We are running the race to retirement riches backward
And the planning for it? That usually happens just before people stop working – often too late to reshape anything meaningful.
But for a growing number of Australians, it's not retirement itself that shapes their future. It's the decade or so before it. That's the window where you still have time to make strategic decisions – about money, work, lifestyle, and how you want the next 30 years to feel.
The problem is that the word retirement still sounds like the end. It feels old. And for many people in their 50s, thinking too far ahead feels uncomfortable. They put off planning, or assume their super will take care of itself, or just hope things will work out.
But by the time they're ready to engage, they're often left asking, 'why didn't I know this sooner?'
The truth is, the best retirements don't start at 65 or 67. They start in your 50s, with practical decisions that give you more flexibility and less pressure – now and later.
That might mean getting serious about salary sacrificing or topping up your super while you're still earning well and getting it into the position where, if it compounds at a long-term return rate of 7 to 10 per cent over 15 years ahead, before you retire, that it will be 'enough'. And you can even forecast that in your late 40s or 50s.
It could mean getting the mortgage under control as early as you can once the kids are (finally) off your hands. Or thinking differently about your home versus investment mix, and perhaps choosing to downsize and shift money into superannuation once the downsizing window, which so many people are unaware of, opens at the age of 55. That's when the government allows you to put in up to $300,000 per person from the sale of your principal residence if you've owned it for 10 years or more.
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