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Home / Plan your retirement / Retirement planning for beginners / Retirement planning case study: Single woman, aged 52

Retirement planning case study: Single woman, aged 52

January 5, 2021 by Barbara Drury Leave a Comment

Reading time: 3 minutes

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  • Initial estimated annual retirement income until age 90
  • Super Contributions Optimiser summary
  • Revised estimated annual retirement income until age 90 (after making additional contributions)
  • Revised estimated annual retirement income until age 85 (after making additional contributions)
  • Deb (52) is divorced and single
  • She earns $60,000 per year and has just $85,000 in super after taking time out of the workforce to raise her two children who are now independent.
  • She is on track to own her home outright within a few years but has no other investments outside super.
  • She won’t be eligible for the Age Pension until she’s 67 and is resigned to working full time until then.
  • Deb is worried that she won’t have enough savings to live comfortably in retirement and, at age 52, wonders if she’s left it too late to catch up.

The short answer is that it’s never too late to boost your super while you’re still working and earning an income. Deb’s net income after tax and Medicare levy is $48,816 per year. It’s generally accepted that you need 66–80% of your pre-retirement income to continue your current standard of living. As Deb’s savings and assets are relatively low, her target income will be closer to 80%, or $39,053 in today’s dollars.

She currently receives her employer’s 9.5% Superannuation Guarantee contributions of $5,700 per year but makes no additional contributions.

According to MoneySmart’s Retirement Planner calculator, if she does nothing she will retire with an estimated super balance of $220,388, which would give her annual income of $35,451 per year, including the Age Pension, from age 67 to 90.

Initial estimated annual retirement income until age 90

Source: MoneySmart Retirement Planner

That’s a fair way short of her target income of $39,053, although it’s substantially better than the ASFA Retirement Standard’s modest income for a single person of $27,902.

There are a couple of things she can do to boost her retirement savings, although she has ruled out working beyond age 67.


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You can view a video on how to use MoneySmart’s calculator here.

Please also refer to the note about assumptions for the MoneySmart Retirement Planner at the bottom of this article and note that the results you get may vary slightly from the figures below due to the way the tool factors in dates.


Deb is confident she can afford to make a personal contribution to her super fund of $400 a month. To find out whether she is better off making a before or after-tax contribution she checks the MoneySmart Super Contributions Optimiser calculator.

This reveals she will get more bang for her buck by making a pre-tax contribution, either through salary sacrifice or as a personal contribution, of $625 per month (which is equivalent to making an after-tax contribution of $400 per month after factoring in the tax deduction she will earn).

Super Contributions Optimiser summary

Source: MoneySmart Super Contributions Optimiser

By making a personal pre-tax contribution of $625 a month Deb would increase her annual income in retirement to $38,804 per year, including a part Age Pension. This is roughly in line with her target income of $39,053 per year.

Revised estimated annual retirement income until age 90 (after making additional contributions)

Source: MoneySmart Retirement Planner

Deb would like to have a bit more money to spend in her early retirement years while she is still fit and healthy enough to travel around Australia to visit family and friends, so she adjusts the calculator to see how much income she would have if she allowed her super to run out by age 85, close to the average lifespan for Australians, rather than 90.

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That would give her an estimated annual retirement income of $42,827. Not only is this above her target, but it’s also not far off ASFA’s estimated income for a comfortable retirement lifestyle of $43,687 a year. The downside is that if she lives beyond age 85, she would be totally dependent on the Age Pension.

Revised estimated annual retirement income until age 85 (after making additional contributions)

Source: MoneySmart Retirement Planner

Deb will also have more room to add to her super when she is no longer making mortgage repayments, so perhaps her super will stretch to 90 after all.

After going through this exercise Deb is more confident that she won’t have to compromise her current standard of living in retirement. In fact, depending how much extra she can save when her mortgage is repaid, she could end up slightly better off than she is now.


View all our retirement planning case studies:

  • In retirement case study: Boosting retirement income with downsizer contributions
  • Retirement planning case study: Couple aged 47 and 48
  • Retirement planning case study: Couple aged 58 and 60
  • Retirement planning case study: Single woman, aged 52

Learn more about how to plan your own retirement.


Note: The MoneySmart Retirement Planner calculator used for these projections makes certain assumptions based on Treasury’s long-term retirement income models. For example, it assumes Balanced annual investment returns of 7.5% before tax and fees until retirement and a more conservative 6.5% after retirement. It also makes assumptions about fees, wages and inflation. You can change these assumptions if they don’t align with your risk profile or your super fund’s fees and long-term returns.


Important: These retirement planning case studies are presented as general information only, and are solely intended to give you ideas on aspects you may need to consider when planning your own retirement. They do not take into account all aspects of someone’s financial or personal situation, and should not be construed as general or personal advice.


Learn more about how much super is enough in the following SuperGuide articles:

How to use the MoneySmart Retirement Planner

January 21, 2021

Super to income Reckoner

February 18, 2020

Income from super Reckoner

February 18, 2020

Is $500,000 in super enough to retire on?

February 11, 2020

Is $750,000 in super enough to retire on?

February 11, 2020

Is $1 million in super enough to retire on?

February 11, 2020

Is $1.6 million in super enough to retire on?

February 11, 2020

Is $2 million in super enough to retire on?

February 11, 2020

Is $3.2 million in super enough for a couple to retire on?

February 11, 2020

How much super do I need to retire on $40,000 a year?

February 11, 2020

How much super do I need to retire on $60,000 a year?

February 11, 2020

How much super do I need to retire on $80,000 a year?

February 11, 2020

How much super do I need to retire on $100,000 a year?

February 11, 2020

How much super do I need to retire?

February 11, 2020

How accurate are ‘retirement estimates’? 7 assumptions you need to understand

November 21, 2019

Falling behind with your super? How your super balance compares

October 2, 2019

Learn more about women and super in the following SuperGuide articles:

Women and super: How to beat the odds

October 9, 2020

Video: How super policy settings work against women

September 15, 2020

Contribution splitting: How to boost your spouse’s super

July 1, 2020

Single women and super: How 3 women beat the statistics

August 10, 2019

Health Check: Why do women live longer than men?

June 10, 2019

Women come out on top in the battle of the sexes for super

May 1, 2019

Gender inequality in retirement income

February 15, 2019

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