{"id":474410,"date":"2026-05-30T08:12:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T08:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/474410\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T08:12:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T08:12:11","slug":"average-superannuation-balance-in-2026-40-vs-50-and-60-years-old-australians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/474410\/","title":{"rendered":"Average superannuation balance in 2026: 40 vs 50 and 60 years old Australians"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you looking forward to living a comfortable retirement lifestyle but are concerned about whether or not you’re on track?<\/p>\n

Or perhaps you want to find out the superannuation balance you’d need to maintain a good standard of living, do some regular activities, meals out, and perhaps even an occasional overseas trip. <\/p>\n

Here’s a rundown of the average super<\/a> balance for Australians at age 40, versus age 50 and age 60 in 2026, and what you’d need at each age to have enough for retirement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Image source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

How much superannuation does the average Australian have at age 40?<\/p>\n

There isn’t an exact figure for Australians at each age, but the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) provides some brackets that can help. <\/p>\n

According to ASFA, at age 40-44, the average male has $140,680, and the average female has $109,209.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

How much superannuation does the average Australian have at age 50?<\/p>\n

The data also shows that, at age 50-54 years old, the average male has $254,071, and the average female has $190,175.<\/p>\n

How much superannuation does the average Australian have at age 60?<\/p>\n

The average 60 to 64-year-old Australian male has an average superannuation balance of $395,852, and women have around $313,360.<\/p>\n

40 vs 50 and 60: Why is the gap so wide?<\/p>\n

The difference between super balances at age 40 versus age 50 and then age 60 is significant.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the 20-year period between age 40 and 60, average balances increase by over $200,000 for both men and women.<\/p>\n

It could be that these individuals have had more time to add additional contributions to their superannuation balance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But it also shows the importance of compounding. It’s clear that accumulating wealth early on, investing in a well-performing fund, and at a risk profile that suits your own, can supercharge your balance down the line. <\/p>\n

Are these average balances enough to retire on?<\/p>\n

No. In fact, the average Australian is quite far behind.<\/p>\n

A comfortable retirement is expected to cost<\/a> around $54,840 per year for individuals and $77,375 per year for couples.<\/p>\n

To afford that, by retirement, a single person will need a superannuation balance of around $630,000, and couples need around $730,000. <\/p>\n

Using ASFA’s Super Balance Detective tool<\/a>, I’ve calculated what you’d need at ages 40, 50, and 60 to reach that sum.<\/p>\n

At age 40, you need around $178,000 in your superannuation. <\/p>\n

At age 50, this should be more like $313,500. <\/p>\n

Then, at age 60, you should have around $496,500 in order to live comfortably when the time comes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As you’ll see. These sums are significantly higher than the average at each age milestone. <\/p>\n

And this means you’ll need to bridge the gap another way.<\/p>\n

Additional contributions are a good place to start. You can take advantage of additional concessional or non-concessional contributions, whether this is salary sacrificing or after-tax payments (within your annual limits). <\/p>\n

Applicable government initiatives could also help bridge the gap between the superannuation balance you have and what you need.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Are you looking forward to living a comfortable retirement lifestyle but are concerned about whether or not you’re…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":474411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[72,3472,176,61,60,174,175],"class_list":["post-474410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-editors-choice","tag-finance","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}