The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show Australians are retiring later than ever, with questions around financial security keeping many people at work.
Australians still intend to retire, on average, between the ages of 65 and 66, the highest intended retirement age recorded in the past 10 years.
The figures also showed people’s actual age at retirement, and no surprise – that’s going up as well. The average age of an Australian entering retirement today is 61.4, which is up from 58.5 in 2014-14 and 57.4 in 2004-05.
So, people are not only planning to stay at work longer, they are also entering retirement before they intended to. Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics says the age of intended retirement has risen only slightly in recent years, the actual age at retirement has risen dramatically.
“While the average age that people intend to retire has risen over time, it hasn’t changed much in the last 10 years,” he says.
“This average has been between 65.0 years and 65.6 years for close to a decade, since 2014-15.
“In 2022-23, people who had retired in the past 20 years said that they did so, on average, at 61.4 years. This average has risen from 58.5 years in 2014-15.
The data showed retirees from the arts and recreation services industries retired, on average, later than all other industries, at 64.4 years. Accommodation and food services had the lowest actual retirement age at 58.5 years.
Why are people retiring later?
The short answer, is money, or a lack of it. The ABS found the Age Pension is the main source of income for 46 per cent of retired men, and 40 per cent of retired women. This was by far the biggest source of income for retirees.
Since you need to be 67 to qualify for the pension, this is causing people to stay in work longer than they’d like which then drags the average age up.
“In 2022-23, a government pension or allowance was still the main source of personal income at retirement for 43 per cent of retirees,” Mr Jarvis says.
“This was followed by superannuation, an annuity or private pension at 27 per cent.”
On a more positive note, the number of people who listed ‘no income’ in retirement – in other words they were forced to retire before they were ready or before pension age – has dropped significantly from 25 per cent in 2012-13 to 12 per cent in 2022-23.
In particular, women reporting no income in retirement have dropped from 37 per cent in 2012-13 to 18 per cent in 2022-23. Women are even relying on their husbands less.
“The number of women who relied on their partner’s income as their main source of funds for meeting living costs at retirement has fallen by more than 10 percentage points over the decade, dropping from 44 per cent in 2012-13 to 31 per cent in 2022-23,” Mr Jarvis says.
Do you feel confident you’ll live comfortably in retirement? When do you believe you’ll be able to retire? Let us know in the comments section below.
Also read: How teaching their kids financial literacy set this couple up for retirement
I’m 76 and still working. Why ? Because with my rent being $870 per week I have no choice.
Thanks Albo.
I just turned 70 & still work to make ends meet.
I am 74, worked hard all my life, never unemployed, 23 years Federal public stevent, TAFE 25 years. Still not enough super to live on.. Politicians need to hang their heads in shame.. Still need to work part time to make ends meet!!
And to read today Shorten is going to a new job that will pay a week, more than a single pensioner gets in a year! And that’s plus his obscene superannuation/pension scheme (more lucrative as he falls under the previous extremely generous scheme). I’m 72, and still working 10 hours a week, because I NEED to, to survive, not because I WANT to. Even then, my paltry wage sees my pension reduced. I get sick of hearing that the CPI has increased 3%, when the cost increases of power, insurances and rates are just becoming untenable. I honestly don’t know when the breaking point will come.
I could have retired at 65 in 2015 but decided to work longer to improve my super balance. I did retire at 67 due to health reasons, so in my retirement I no longer have the health to do as I would have preferred. Then covid stuffed up my plans to travel.