Super in your 50s (and beyond)

Planning for the Home Stretch: Managing Super in Your 50s

Turning 50 is a significant milestone. It’s also the age where retirement stops being a distant concept and starts becoming a tangible reality. In Australia, where life expectancy for men is 81 and for women is 85, many of us will spend a quarter—or even a third—of our lives in retirement. Understanding how you'll fund this long and exciting chapter is essential.

Your 50s are the "home stretch." This is the peak earning decade for many, and it offers a unique window of opportunity to supercharge your nest egg before you stop working.

1. Consolidation and Fees

If you have multiple super accounts, you’re likely paying multiple sets of administration fees and insurance premiums. Consolidating into one high-performing, low-cost account can save tens of thousands of dollars over a decade through the power of compound interest. Ensure you check your insurance cover before switching!

2. Maximising Contributions

Don't just rely on the 12% employer guarantee.

• Concessional Contributions: Consider salary sacrifice or personal deductible contributions up to the $30,000 annual cap. These are taxed at only 15% (for most), which is usually much lower than your marginal tax rate.

• Non-Concessional Contributions: If you have spare cash, you can contribute up to $120,000 per year from your after-tax income to boost your balance.

3. The Downsizer Contribution

If you’re 55 or over and considering selling the family home to move to something smaller in Adelaide or down the coast, you may be eligible to contribute up to $300,000 (per person) from the proceeds into your super. This is a "non-concessional" contribution that doesn't count towards the usual caps, making it a powerful way to inject capital into a tax-effective environment.

4. Transition to Retirement (TTR)

A TTR strategy allows you to access a portion of your super as a pension while you are still working. This can be used to supplement your income if you decide to reduce your working hours, or it can be used in combination with salary sacrifice to boost your super balance while maintaining your take-home pay.

Planning ahead in your 50s ensures you enter retirement with choice, rather than necessity.

Source: https://www.betashares.com.au/education/super-in-your-50s/

At Humble Goode Financial, we can help put you on the right track with your aged care queries, to ensure that you maximise the opportunities available to you. If you are interested in learning more, please give us a call on 08 7477 8252 to book an appointment to review your financial position.

General Advice Warning:

The information on this website is intended to be general in nature and is not personal financial product advice. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any information, you should consider the appropriateness of the information provided and the nature of the relevant financial product having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. In particular, you should seek independent financial advice and read the relevant product disclosure statement (PDS) or other offer document prior to making an investment decision in relation to a financial product.