I’ve recently noticed a bit of confusion about retirement age and the age you’re eligible for the Centrelink age pension on some social media platforms, I’m still young and cool I swear!
To prove how young and cool I am, the algorithm shows me a lot of “finfluencers.” For those who aren’t in the know, finfluencers are essentially influencers whose claim to fame is they talk about finance. They aren’t regulated so can be dangerous but that’s another conversation.
A hot topic is always the “if you don’t buy x and save $x per week you will end up with $xxx by the time you retire.” I like to scroll through the comments and a very common one is “I’ll be working forever as they will just move the retirement age.”
It’s debatable if everyone will be able to retire comfortably, but I think the main issue here is people seem to think you can’t retire until you turn 67. Which is not the case.
There is no such thing as a retirement age. Technically you can retire today, the big issue is can you afford to?
Although you can retire at any age you can’t access your super until preservation age, which is a sliding scale:
Date of Birth – Preservation age
Before 1 July 1960 – 55
1 July 1960 to 30 June 1961 – 56
1 July 1961 to 30 June 1962 – 57
1 July 1962 to 30 June 1963 – 58
1 July 1963 to 30 June 1964 – 59
From 1 July 1964 – 60
If you retire after meeting the preservation age you can access 100% of your super. If you continue to work you can access up to 10% via TTR pension which I covered in this blog – Have you heard of a TTR or TRIS?
Then there is Age pension age, which is when you are eligible to receive the age pension from Centrelink if you meet the assets or income test. That is what is generally talked about when talking about moving the retirement age. It is currently 67 but it is discussed almost every year.
Long story short, if it concerns you about never being able to access the age pension, due to moving the age, then your best bet is to aim to be a self-funded retiree (so not need the age pension from Centrelink).
To do that you need to start now, if not yesterday!
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