How Much Super Should You Have at Your Age?

How much super should you have at your age? Here are the actual benchmarks, where they come from, why comparing yourself to 'the average' is a trap, and why being behind at 30 or 40 is a very fixable problem.

The most-quoted yardstick comes from ASFA — the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, the super industry's research body. It defines a 'comfortable' retirement (private health insurance, a decent car, regular meals out, some travel) and works backwards to what your balance should be at each age to stay on track. For a single person, the checkpoints land around these marks:

Plenty of articles skip the targets and quote average balances instead. But averages are dragged upward by a small number of very large balances; the median — the middle person, a far more honest yardstick — typically sits well below the average at every age.

Worse, at nearly every age from the mid-thirties on, even the inflated average sits below the ASFA checkpoint. So 'above average' can still mean 'behind target'. Compare yourself to the checkpoint, not the crowd.

The benchmarks measure where you are, but your outcome depends mostly on time — and if you're under 45, you have an absurd amount of it.

Compounding — returns earning their own returns — is heavily back-loaded. A dollar contributed at 30 might double, then double again, then again before you're 67; the same dollar contributed at 60 barely gets one growth spurt. Being $30,000 behind at 35 can be fixed with pocket change per week; being $200,000 behind at 60 cannot.

So the most useful response to a scary checkpoint is a small, boring, permanent tweak made early.

Sacrifice a little salary. Adding even 1-2% of your pay on top of the compulsory 12% your employer contributes, taxed at 15% on the way in instead of your marginal rate — the tax rate on your last dollar earned — barely dents take-home pay but compounds for decades. Run your number through our Salary Sacrifice Calculator to see the exact trade.

Consolidate stray accounts. Multiple funds means multiple sets of fees and possibly duplicate insurance premiums. Merging into one (after checking you won't lose insurance you need) is a one-hour job with a lifelong payoff.

Audit fees and your investment option. A high-fee fund, or a too-cautious investment mix in your 30s, can cost more over a career than any missed contribution.

Check your balance against the checkpoint for your age — the real one, not the average. If you're behind, pick one fix from the list above and make it this week: one automated change that keeps working while you forget about it.

And remember the benchmarks describe one particular retirement: a homeowner, comfortable, retiring at 67. Yours might be cheaper, dearer, earlier, or part-time. The checkpoint is a smoke alarm, not a report card.