In this guide
The decision about when to retire is rarely made overnight. It’s a major life event and deserves careful thought and planning.
Finances play a big part, but so do your health, your partner’s circumstances and whether you still enjoy your work or are itching to leave.
Sometimes the choice is made for you. Redundancy, ill health or a lack of job opportunities might force you to leave the workforce earlier than anticipated.
For those who do have a choice, you can retire whenever you wish, provided you have the financial resources to support the life you want to lead in retirement. That’s because there is no official retirement age in Australia, and no legal requirement to stop working.
Access to super and the Age Pension
When people ask, ‘When can I retire?’ or ‘What age can I retire?’, what they often mean is when can they access their super or the Age Pension. The age rules for each are different, which no doubt causes much of the confusion.
- Super preservation age: This is the age when you can access your super, provided you have also met a condition of release, such as retiring. The preservation age is now 60 for everyone. Even if you don’t wish to retire, once you turn 60, you may be able to access part of your super and continue working full or part-time by starting a transition-to-retirement pension (TTR, also known as a transition-to-retirement income stream, or TRIS).
- Age Pension age: This is the age when you can access a full or part Age Pension, provided your income and assets are below certain thresholds. The age of eligibility for the Age Pension is 67.
To learn more, see our article What is the retirement age in Australia?
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