Planning your retirement

Plan for the future so you can enjoy today, tomorrow and your retirement

How much will I need?

How much money you’ll need in retirement depends on what kind of lifestyle you want when you finish working.

Each year the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) Retirement Standard sets a benchmark for the annual budget Australians need to live a comfortable or modest standard of living in their retirement.

  • A modest retirement lifestyle is considered better than the Age Pension but still restricted to fairly basic activities.
  • A comfortable retirement lifestyle allows a healthy retiree to be involved in a broad range of leisure and recreational activities and have a better standard of living.

Find out ASFA's most recent annual amounts needed for the lifestyle you want in retirement.

ASFA retirement standards

Retirement modeller

Our interactive retirement modeller helps you work out whether you have enough super for the age you want to retire.

Choose between different investment options, and see the impact of contributing to your super, retiring later or earlier, or continuing work part-time can make.

Try our modeller

Account options for your retirement

Whether you want to gradually ease into retirement or have a date in mind where you want to finish working completely, we have account options to help you achieve a seamless transition into retirement.

If you’re still working and have reached your preservation age, you can choose to access your super with a Pre-Retirement Pension. This is a great option if you want to slow down your working routine, possibly work less hours, and you can access your super to supplement your income.

If you're ready to stop working and have reached your preservation age, you can manage your income in retirement with a Pension account.

Preservation age table

Date of birth

 Preservation age
Before 1 July 1960 55
1 July 1960 - 30 June 1961 56
1 July 1961 - 30 June 1962 57
1 July 1962 - 30 June 1963 58
1 July 1963 - 30 June 1964 59
From 1 July 1964  60

Which account is right for me?

Our Pension accounts give you a tax effective income and you still maintain control over how your money is invested. 

These accounts are great if you want:

  • flexibility to choose how often and the amount you receive in your pension payments
  • the choice of a wide range of investment options
  • competitive fees
  • a fund where profits are returned to members.

Pre-Retirement Pension

This account gives you the flexibility to work less as you head towards retirement.

Learn more

Pension account

Our pension account is designed to give you financial peace of mind in your retirement.

Learn more

Government age pension

When you reach a certain age, you can receive the government age pension – but the amount you could be eligible for will be dependent on a number of factors including your super balance, any income received outside of your super, and whether you own any assets.

Are you eligible to receive the age pension?

  • You must be at least 65 years and 6 months to receive the age pension
  • You must also be an Australian resident living in Australia
  • You will be assessed against an income and asset test. The outcomes of these tests will impact the amount you receive for your age pension.

You can find out more on the Australian Government Human Services site.

When can you access the age pension?

With our ageing population, the Australian Government has put in place measures to increase the retirement age. Starting from 65 years and 6 months, the age you can access the age pension is growing by 6 months every 2 years until it reaches 67 years by 1 July 2023.

This table below shows you when you can access the age pension.

If your birthdate is: You’ll be old enough at:
1 July 1952 to 31 December 1953 65 years and 6 months
1 January 1954 to 30 June 1955 66 years
1 July 1955 to 31 December 1956 66 years and 6 months
From 1 January 1957 67 years

Source: Australian Government Department of Social Services

How the government age pension works in retirement

When you reach age pension age, as long as you meet the requirements, you can get age pension support from the government.

You may be a self-funded retiree or still working, and in this case you may be able to get a part pension.

With the age pension you’ll receive a Pensioner Concession Card. This will give you access to health concessions and discounts on goods and services to reduce your cost of living.

Need help getting the best outcome with your super?

As a Catholic Super member you can get professional advice from our fully qualified financial planners. We can help you:

  • Understand age pensions and other Centrelink issues
  • Maximise your super with tax effective strategies
  • Check you’re on track for your lifestyle, financial and retirement goals
More about advice