Australian super · your age, your circumstances
How much super should I have?
Aim for the retirement you want, not just the median. What is common can be too low a goal for the lifestyle you hope to fund.
Choose your age for published planning benchmarks, historical peer context and a planner you can adjust. Being above the median does not prove you have enough; being below it does not automatically mean your retirement plan fails.
Research updated · Read the evidence on balance adequacy
Choose the retirement goal before judging the balance
A median tells you what is common, not what is enough. For someone aiming for a comfortable retirement, it can be too low a goal. These ASFA benchmarks distinguish housing and lifestyle; a couple’s figure is for both people together.
| Retirement situation | Single | Couple combined |
|---|---|---|
| Comfortable · own outright | $630,000 | $730,000 |
| Modest · own outright | $110,000 | $120,000 |
| Modest · rent privately | $340,000 | $385,000 |
Source: ASFA 2026 Retirement Standard explainer, checked 9 September 2026. These assume capital drawdown and Age Pension support where applicable; renter estimates also account for rental assistance. They are not fully self-funded amounts. The homeowner benchmarks assume owning outright and relatively good health.
“Comfortable” is a defined spending pattern, not a promise to maintain any existing lifestyle. In particular, ASFA allows occasional overseas travel, not an overseas holiday every year. Price your own travel, ongoing rent, mortgage payoff and health or care needs before adopting a target. Check the lifestyle assumptions.
Read our research: when average super balances are too low, and when they are not →
Published super targets by age
Use a retirement goal and your future contributions to assess progress. ASFA publishes the milestone ages below; they are not a target for every birthday. The pathway assumes future pre-tax earnings of $65,000 a year keeping pace with inflation, towards $630,000 at 67 for a single homeowner. ASFA, 24 February 2026.
| Beginning of age | Published balance milestone |
|---|---|
| 30 | $66,500 |
| 40 | $168,000 |
| 50 | $296,000 |
| 55 | $377,000 |
| 60 | $469,000 |
| 65 | $571,000 |
If earnings, contribution breaks, retirement timing or investment outcomes differ, the starting balance needed changes. These milestones are not a renter pathway, a couple’s combined target or a guarantee. They reproduce the dated release, not the live Super Detective calculator, which may show different figures. SuperGuru’s age planner uses different assumptions, including $85,000 example earnings, and does not reproduce ASFA’s model.
A peer balance and a retirement target answer different questions
A peer statistic describes people in a published dataset. A target asks how much a particular future lifestyle could cost and which income sources might pay for it. Being above a median does not prove you can fund annual overseas travel or long-term rent; being below it does not mean you have failed.
The guides lead with planning benchmarks and keep the historical median separate. Near-retirement medians are below several comfortable-retirement targets, but a comparison alone cannot tell us how many people have inadequate income. Future contributions, pension eligibility, other assets and a partner’s resources change that assessment.
| Age band | Median balance | Mean balance |
|---|---|---|
| 18–24 | $6,071 | $9,783 |
| 25–29 | $21,395 | $27,822 |
| 30–34 | $40,426 | $54,009 |
| 35–39 | $69,200 | $91,265 |
| 40–44 | $100,330 | $134,054 |
| 45–49 | $131,705 | $182,866 |
| 50–54 | $161,375 | $238,616 |
| 55–59 | $185,120 | $301,151 |
| 60–64 | $203,326 | $371,379 |
| 65–69 | $218,631 | $437,422 |
Source: ASFA 2026 balance report, Table 2, using ATO data at June 2024. Published August 2026; excludes people with nil balances. No single-age statistic is inferred from these bands.
Build the plan around the household you expect to have
One person and a couple have different costs, but a couple’s budget is not simply twice a single person’s. Housing creates another large difference: an outright owner still pays rates, insurance and maintenance; a renter needs a continuing housing allowance; someone with a mortgage must decide how to fund the remaining debt.
Location is a reason to check actual costs. An inner-city apartment, an outer-suburban house and a regional property can have very different rates, transport and maintenance even within the same state. The location selector provides a checklist while you enter local costs. It does not invent a city premium.
What these estimates can and cannot tell you
The planner is an educational scenario tool. Its results use constant returns and spending in today’s dollars, with clear assumptions about contributions and fees. It does not predict markets, work out your Age Pension, assess tax eligibility or recommend a super fund. A detailed retirement planner is the next step when you need those interactions.
For transparency, the calculations, source dates and known omissions are documented in our methodology. The guides are published by SuperGuru Group; see our editorial policy for how original content and automated calculations are produced.