Working in retirement

Retirement is a condition of release to access your super once you have reached your preservation age. Your preservation age is between 55 and 60, depending on your date of birth.

Once you have made a written declaration to your super fund that you are officially retired, the contributions you can make into your super account are much more limited and depend on your age.

However, it’s possible to return to work even if retirement was your condition of release. If you’re aged under 60, you can return to work provided you can prove that your intention to retire was genuine when you made it. For example, your personal circumstances may have changed since you retired. You may need to provide proof of these changed circumstances to the ATO or your super fund. However you won’t be able to access any further super benefits that you accumulate from that point in time until you meet another condition of release. You can still access what you had accumulated up to that date.

A transition-to-retirement pension is also an option you can consider once you have reached preservation age.

If you’re aged between 60 and 64 and retirement was your condition of release, you can also return to the workforce at any time. Again, you won’t be able to access any further super benefits you accumulate from that point until you meet another condition of release.

If you’re aged over 65, it’s possible to access your super and still work. There are no access restrictions. In other words, you don’t have to retire to access it. If you are working and receiving the Age Pension then you may be eligible for the work bonus.