What Is Your Ideal Retirement Age?

The end-of-year break is closer than it feels. And if it’s anything like most years, somewhere between Boxing Day and the end of January, with the phone quiet and nowhere to be, someone at the table will say it out loud. We could get used to this.

Ask most people and they’ll give you a number. 60. 65. The year the mortgage is finally gone.

But the number is rarely the point. What matters is what sits behind it.

What sits behind the number

For some, it’s freedom. The day work becomes something you choose rather than something you have to do.

For some, it’s a very specific dream. Finishing early. Taking the long trip while you’ve still got the energy for it. Being around for the grandkids, or finally seeing the places you’ve talked about for twenty years, with the people you want beside you.

For others, it’s security. Less a dream than a quiet confidence that if your health, your industry or your circumstances made the call for you, you’d be okay. That matters more than people admit. According to the ABS, only a third of Australian retirees say they left work because they reached retirement age. For about one in five, it was their health or losing their job that decided it.

And some people love what they do and have no intention of stopping. For them, retirement isn’t an end date. It’s the point where they keep working because they want to, not because they have to.

Different numbers, same goal: getting to the point where work is a choice.

Planning ahead for it

Once you know what’s behind your number, it becomes something you can plan around.

Two ages are worth knowing. Your super generally becomes available at your preservation age, which is 60 for anyone born on or after 1 July 1964, although before 65 you’ll usually need to meet a condition of release such as retiring. The Age Pension starts at 67, subject to the income and assets tests. If your number is earlier than 67, the years in between are funded by what you’ve built yourself.

The earlier you know that, the more room you have to plan for it.

Your business is part of your retirement

For business owners, retirement isn’t just a date. It’s usually a sale, a handover, or a gradual step back, and the way your business is set up has a lot to say about how that goes.

How the business is owned. Whether a company, trust or partnership still suits where you’re heading. How you draw income from it today, and how much of that ends up working for you in super or investments outside the business. Who takes over, and whether they’re ready.

Your personal finances sit in the same picture. The family home, investment property, a family trust or an SMSF. When they’re set up to work together, the plan holds up better when life changes course.

Being smart about tax along the way

Good structure isn’t only about protection. Planned well, and planned early, it can also mean keeping more of what you’ve built.

That might come down to how and when super contributions are made, how income is drawn from the business over time, or how a future sale is structured. There are tax concessions designed specifically for small business owners who sell, and whether you qualify often depends on decisions made well before the sale.

This isn’t about aggressive schemes. It’s about using the rules as they’re intended, with enough time to do it properly.

Where to start

Start the conversation now, while there’s still room in the year. Talk it over with the people who are part of the picture. Work out what you’d actually want your days to look like, and roughly when.

Then bring that picture to us and we’ll test it against the numbers. That’s the part we can help with.

As always, if anything sparks a question or you’d like to sense-check your position, we’re here for a conversation.

Call 1300 866 113 or book via our website.

This is general information only. Please seek professional advice for your specific situation.

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