How much super should I have at my age?
Everyone asks this and the answer isn't a single number. Here's what the ATO data actually shows for median balances by age, what ASFA reckons you need at retirement, and the working-backwards benchmark to check if you're on track.
Last updated 15 April 2026 · General information only · Cites ATO, APRA, ASIC MoneySmart
The short answer
To retire at 67 with the ASFA "comfortable" standard (~$53,000/yr for a single, ~$75,000/yr for a couple, in today's dollars), a rule-of-thumb target is around $595,000 as a single or $690,000 combined as a couple — assuming you'll also qualify for at least a part Age Pension, which most do.
Working back from that, here's roughly what that means at each age:
| Age | On-track single target | What the median Australian has |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | $24,000 | $11,000 |
| 30 | $52,000 | $30,000 |
| 35 | $89,000 | $55,000 |
| 40 | $138,000 | $90,000 |
| 45 | $201,000 | $133,000 |
| 50 | $281,000 | $181,000 |
| 55 | $380,000 | $237,000 |
| 60 | $503,000 | $290,000 |
| 65 | $595,000 | $335,000 |
Left column: what you'd need at each age to be on track for $595k at 67, assuming 6% p.a. real return and continuing SG contributions. Right column: rough median balances from recent ATO taxation statistics, rounded. Women's median balances are materially lower at every age — the gender super gap is real and mostly driven by career breaks and part-time work.
What "on track" even means
There is no legally-defined "should." The benchmarks above work backwards from the ASFA Retirement Standard, which is an industry estimate of what a retired Australian needs to live modestly vs comfortably. ASFA updates the numbers quarterly for inflation. As of the June 2025 quarter:
- Modest single: $33,386/yr — covers the basics, very little flexibility
- Comfortable single: $53,289/yr — own home paid off, modest car, one domestic trip a year, private health cover
- Comfortable couple: $75,319/yr — same lifestyle, shared
ASFA assumes you own your home outright and will receive a part Age Pension. If you'll be renting in retirement or don't expect a pension, you need materially more.
The rough working
A commonly-used planning assumption: a 67-year-old retiree needs about 14× their target annual spend in super, because that's roughly how long that capital lasts at 6% real returns over a 25–30 year retirement with account-based pension drawdowns.
$53,000/yr × ~11 (allowing for Age Pension top-up) ≈ $595,000. That's where the "magic number" comes from. Couples need around $690k combined because fixed household costs (electricity, rates, internet) are shared.
Why medians are misleading
Median balances in the table above sit well below the "on track" numbers. That doesn't necessarily mean most Australians are on a catastrophic trajectory — it means a lot of working-age people today entered the workforce before super reached 12%, carried broken contribution histories, or took career breaks. The Super Guarantee didn't exist before 1992 and didn't hit 9% until 2002.
If you're under 35 and started work after 2013, the legislated ramp from 9.5% → 12% SG is meaningfully in your favour vs the people whose median we're plotting. Your 35-year projection should look better than theirs did at the same age.
Fastest ways to course-correct
- Check you're not in a dud fund. Run yourself through the compare funds tool or the ATO's YourSuper. A 1% fee gap over 30 years compounds to hundreds of thousands.
- Consolidate. Paying multiple sets of admin fees is a direct tax on your retirement. Our consolidation calc shows the compounded cost.
- Use carry-forward. If your Total Super Balance was under $500k at 30 June, you can roll five years of unused concessional cap forward — often $100k+ of room. See our contribution caps tracker.
- Check your investment option. If you're 35 and in "Conservative" or "Capital Stable," you're probably sacrificing about 1.5% p.a. return for volatility protection you don't need yet. MySuper Balanced or High Growth is closer to the right default for most accumulators.
Don't confuse "median" with "enough"
If you're sitting on median super for your age, you're roughly at the middle of the pack — not necessarily on track. The middle of the pack is forecasted (by Treasury retirement income modelling) to end up with a mix of Age Pension + modest super drawdowns. That's fine; it's the system working as designed. But if you'd like more than ASFA modest, your super balance needs to be above the median, not at it.
The most useful number for you personally isn't the table above — it's your own projection with your own salary, fees, returns, and contributions. Plug your numbers into our retirement projection calculator and toggle the ASFA benchmark bars. That's the honest answer.
Sources
General information only — not financial advice. Super decisions are long-term; verify with a licensed adviser.