The scariest thing for most Australians approaching retirement isn’t having too little super. It’s not knowing their current financial position.
That’s one of the key takeaways from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) latest research. With around 2.5 million Australians set to retire over the next decade, nearly half of those surveyed aged 50 to 66 said they were worried about outliving their savings. A sobering headline, no question.
But it isn’t the anxiety statistic that tells the most important story. It’s what sits underneath it.
The number that tells the real story
Only 26% of pre-retirees demonstrated a strong understanding of retirement finances, yet 41% said they felt confident they could manage. Confidence is outrunning comprehension by fifteen percentage points.
On the other side of the ledger, 48% of Australians aged 50 to 66 are worried they will run out of money, while 32% feel they are already behind in preparing, yet only 18% have a clear retirement plan.
The picture that emerges is one of two groups: people who are confident without cause, and people who are anxious without evidence. What both groups share is the same underlying problem. They haven’t sat down and done the numbers. The confident ones are often coasting on a vague sense that things will work out. The anxious ones are catastrophising into a void. Neither group is making decisions based on their actual financial position, and both are worse off for it.
Why the gap exists
Retirement planning in Australia is genuinely complex. Modelling super drawdown, Age Pension eligibility, investment returns, inflation, healthcare costs, and longevity all at once, with uncertainty baked in throughout, is not straightforward. Most people don’t have the tools or the framework to do that, and there’s no reason they should. It’s not something Australians are taught.
ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland noted that many Australians feel confused and overwhelmed by the complexity of retirement planning, and that without a clear plan, uncertainty can quickly turn into anxiety.
That pattern plays out consistently in adviser practices across the country. The anxiety isn’t really about money. It’s about not knowing. And not knowing often feels like not having enough, even when that’s not the reality at all.
What “enough” actually looks like
Retirement can be more affordable than many people expect, particularly when the Age Pension is factored in.
According to the Association of Superannuation Funds Australia’s (ASFA) February 2026 figures, a comfortable retirement covering private health insurance, a reliable car, regular domestic travel, and occasional international trips costs around $54,837 a year for a single homeowner and $77,375 for a couple. That’s the benchmark for a full, active lifestyle. Not luxurious, but genuinely comfortable.
Factor in the Age Pension and the picture shifts further. As at 30 March 2026, the full pension provides $1,178.70 per fortnight for singles and $1,777 per fortnight for couples, significantly reducing how hard superannuation needs to work. Many Australians who are eligible for at least a partial pension haven’t factored it into their thinking at all.
ASFA’s lump sum figures for a comfortable retirement for homeowners, $630,000 for singles and $730,000 for couples at age 67, are calculated on the basis that super is drawn down gradually while the Age Pension fills an increasing share over time. It is not a system where retirees are entirely on their own.
The question that changes the conversation
When pre-retirees sit down with a financial adviser, the most useful starting point is rarely “how much super do you have?” It’s “what does a good week look like for you in retirement?”
It sounds soft. It isn’t. Until a person can describe their retirement, they can’t price it. And until they can price it, every number from their super balance to their pension entitlement to their investment returns is just noise.
The people who are genuinely well-prepared for retirement aren’t necessarily those with the most money. They’re the ones who have connected the dots between what they want and what they’ve got.
Research from the Financial Advice Association Australia found that 88% of advised Australians felt they had enough money for retirement, and 96% said having an adviser helped them stay confident even during periods of economic uncertainty. That confidence isn’t accidental; it comes from knowing where you stand.
What to do if you recognise yourself in this research
ASIC has responded to its findings by launching a new Retirement Hub on the Moneysmart website, offering calculators and planning tools to help Australians model their super, Age Pension eligibility, and retirement income scenarios. It’s a solid free starting point and worth exploring.
But for those within ten years of retirement who are still operating on a vague sense of where things stand, a tool alone may not be enough. What’s needed is a clear, personalised picture including income, assets, lifestyle targets, and the strategy to connect them.
With 58% of pre-retirees saying they want to learn more about superannuation and retirement, the appetite is clearly there. What’s missing for most people isn’t motivation; it’s a practical, structured conversation about their specific situation.
That conversation is one that a financial adviser can help facilitate. And for most people, it ends with considerably more clarity than they walked in with. Not because the numbers are always perfect. But because knowing, really knowing and understanding, is almost always less frightening than the alternative.