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Do you have enough super for your age?

9 minutes|

By Philippa Billings, Chief Advice Officer, Otivo

Most Australians check their super about as often as they check their smoke alarms, which is to say less often than they mean to. Then something prompts a look. A birthday with a zero in it. A colleague announcing their last day. A statement that turns up in the wrong week.

And the first thing almost everyone wants is a table. So here's the number you're looking for — at 40 to 44 the average Australian holds $118,700 in super, at 50 to 54 it's $190,500, and at 60 to 64 it's $263,400. The full set is below. What comes after it is the more interesting part, which is what those numbers are actually made of.

Average super balance by age in Australia

The most current national picture comes from APRA's Quarterly Superannuation Industry Publication. As at the December 2025 quarter, average balances by age group were:

  • Under 25 — $8,800
  • 25 to 29 — $27,000
  • 30 to 34 — $52,700
  • 35 to 39 — $85,100
  • 40 to 44 — $118,700
  • 45 to 49 — $151,900
  • 50 to 54 — $190,500
  • 55 to 59 — $234,700
  • 60 to 64 — $263,400
  • 65 to 69 — $285,800
  • 70 to 74 — $308,600

Where you actually sit

If you came in a little under the average for your age, take some of the sting out of it. An average gets dragged upwards by a small number of very large balances, which means the median — the point where half of Australians sit above and half below — is meaningfully lower at every band. Being slightly under the average often means sitting close to the middle of the pack.

The averages also hide a split that has proved stubborn. On ASFA's analysis of ATO taxation statistics, published in October 2025, Australians aged 60 to 64 held an average of $395,852 for men and $313,360 for women. That's a different measure to APRA's account-level figures and the two shouldn't be read side by side, but the direction holds across every data set — women arrive in their sixties with roughly a quarter less super than men.

What the average is actually a record of

It helps to know what you're comparing yourself against. The average isn't a recommendation anyone made. It's a record of the working lives Australians have actually had — the years out for children, the part-time stretches, the redundancy in 2009, the long decades before the superannuation guarantee climbed to 12%.

Which is why it sits below the retirement benchmarks at essentially every age. ASFA's Super Balance Detective, as at March 2026, puts the on-track figure at $178,000 for someone aged 40 and $496,500 for someone aged 60, assuming a future pre-tax wage of $65,000 a year and a comfortable retirement at 67. The APRA averages for those bands are $118,700 and $263,400.

So the table is a good way to see where you stand among other Australians, and a poor way to decide whether you have enough. Those are genuinely different questions.

The same balance, two different stories

Here's what a table like that one can never show you. Two Australians can hold exactly the same amount of super and be in entirely different positions — and the thing that separates them isn't the money.

Take $85,000, which is roughly the average at 35 to 39. At 35 that's a comfortable place to be. Thirty-two working years still sit in front of it, and across a stretch that long the compounding does more of the lifting than the contributions do. The same $85,000 at 55 is a different conversation. Twelve years left, and compounding no longer has the room to move.

Same figure on the statement. What's changed is the runway.

That's the thing your age band is really telling you about. Not whether the number is good, but how much time is left to do something with it — and time is the one input on the list you can't top up later.

So how much will you actually need?

ASFA's Retirement Standard is the most widely used Australian benchmark. It estimates that a single person needs about $630,000 at age 67 for a comfortable retirement and a couple about $730,000, assuming the retiree owns their home outright, draws down all their capital over retirement, and picks up a part Age Pension from Services Australia along the way.

Change the lifestyle and the number moves a long way. ASFA's modest standard — a lifestyle a little above the Age Pension alone — sits at around $110,000 for a single person who owns their home outright, and around $340,000 for a single person who is renting. Super Consumers Australia, working from ABS retiree spending data, estimates single-person savings targets at age 65 of about $74,000 for low spending, $322,000 for medium and $891,000 for high.

The credible range of targets for one single Australian spans more than $800,000. There is no single number. Four things move it far more than your age does.

  • When you stop working. Every extra year adds a year of contributions and compounding and removes a year of drawdown. It's the heaviest lever on the list.
  • What you want the money to fund. ASFA's comfortable standard covers private health cover, a reliable car, regular outings and one domestic trip a year. A retirement built around overseas travel is a different number.
  • What you own outright. The ASFA targets assume a fully owned home. The renting gap in ASFA's own modest standard is roughly $230,000.
  • What sits alongside super. A partner's balance, savings outside super, and Age Pension entitlement all change how much work your super has to do on its own.

Three things worth checking this week

Comparing balances is the easy part. These three are worth more.

Old accounts. Super left behind at a previous job keeps charging fees, quietly, sometimes for decades.

That your employer is actually paying. Since 1 July 2026, employers have had to get superannuation guarantee contributions into your fund within seven business days of payday under the payday super rules. Underpayment is far easier to spot in a statement than it used to be.

Whether anything beyond the compulsory 12% is going in. For plenty of households nothing is, which is a reasonable position — and also why the same balance can feel comfortable at 35 and tight at 55.

If you do decide to add to it, the general concessional contributions cap for 2026–27 is $32,500, and it's a single combined limit covering employer SG, salary sacrifice and any personal contributions claimed as a tax deduction — not three separate allowances. Members with unused cap from earlier years may have a higher effective cap under the carry-forward rules. Anyone claiming a deduction for a personal contribution also needs to lodge a valid notice of intent with their fund before the earlier of the day they lodge their tax return for that year or the end of the following financial year, and the fund has to acknowledge it before the deduction can be claimed.

Otivo, which holds AFSL and Australian Credit Licence No. 485665, works all of this out as a personal calculation rather than a benchmark comparison. When customers follow Otivo's advice in full on contributions, they could be better off on average by $180,356 in today's dollars by retirement. Otivo's retirement planning module builds a target from your own age, balance, income and retirement age, and the salary sacrifice contributions module shows what a change to contributions does to it.

The table tells you where the crowd is standing. Your own runway is the number worth knowing.

Frequently asked questions

What is the average super balance by age in Australia?

On APRA's Quarterly Superannuation Industry Publication for the December 2025 quarter, average balances were about $52,700 for ages 30 to 34, $85,100 for 35 to 39, $118,700 for 40 to 44, $151,900 for 45 to 49, $190,500 for 50 to 54, $234,700 for 55 to 59 and $263,400 for 60 to 64.

Is the median super balance different from the average?

Yes, and it's lower at every age. Averages are pulled upwards by a small number of very large balances, so the median — where half of Australians sit above and half below — is a closer reflection of a typical balance than the average is.

How much super does a single person need for a comfortable retirement in 2026?

ASFA's Retirement Standard estimates about $630,000 at age 67 for a single person and about $730,000 for a couple, assuming the home is owned outright, capital is drawn down over retirement and a part Age Pension applies.

Does owning your home change how much super you need?

Substantially. ASFA's modest standard sits at around $110,000 for a single person who owns their home outright and around $340,000 for a single person who is renting — a difference of roughly $230,000 on the same lifestyle.

Can you have too little super and still retire?

Most Australians retire on a combination of super and the Age Pension rather than super alone. ASFA's modest standard is built on that assumption, which is why its lump sum figure is far lower than the comfortable one.

Sources

Disclaimer

The information in this communication is current as at August 2026 and has been prepared by Otivo Pty Ltd ABN 47 602 457 732, AFSL and Australian Credit Licence No. 485665. This content is general information only and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not personal financial or taxation advice and should not be relied on as such. Before acting on any information, you should consider its appropriateness having regard to your personal circumstances. This material must not be reproduced in whole or in part, or posted on any social media platform, without the prior written consent of Otivo Pty Ltd.

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