Can I Afford To Retire?

Can I Afford To Retire? A Guide For Australians 50+

If you’ve ever looked at your super and thought, “Is this enough?”, you’re in very good company.

Most people I speak with aren’t chasing yachts or private jets.
They just want to know, in plain language:

Am I going to be okay?
When can I stop working this hard?
What does “enough” actually look like for us?

This guide is designed to take some of the noise out of that question and give you a calm, practical way to think about retirement.

Why This Question Feels So Big

When you ask “Can I afford to retire?” this is only partly about money.

It’s also about:

How you spend your time
Who you spend it with
What life looks like when work is no longer at the centre

If you’re in your late 40s, 50s or early 60s, you may also be balancing:

Aging parents
Adult children who still need a hand
A demanding job or business that takes more energy than it used to

So, if this question has been simmering in the background for a while, that’s normal.
The key is to break it into steps you can actually work through.

Step 1: Can I Afford To Retire? Forget The “Magic Number”

You’ve probably seen headlines claiming you need a specific lump sum to retire comfortably. (www.moneysmart.gove.au)

Those figures don’t know:

How you live
What you value
Whether you want to travel the world or stay close to home

So instead of starting with a random number, start with a better question:

What does a really good, ordinary day in retirement look like for you?

Not a dream holiday, just a Tuesday that feels like “you”.

Maybe it includes:

A slow start and a coffee at home
A walk, gym, or time outside
A little work you choose, not work you have to do
Time with family, friends, or in the community
Space for the hobbies you’ve been postponing

Once that picture is clear, we can start to translate it into real‑world costs.

Step 2: Turn Lifestyle Into A Yearly Income

Now we put some numbers around that “good Tuesday” and the weeks and years around it.

A simple way is to think in three buckets:

Essentials
Mortgage or rent, utilities, insurance, groceries, car costs, basic healthcare.
Enjoyment
Eating out, hobbies, memberships, small trips, gifts.
Big‑ticket items
Larger holidays, renovations, a new car, a caravan, helping children financially.

Consider:

What you currently spend each year
Which expenses will likely drop in retirement (child costs, commuting, work clothes, heavy saving)
What might increase (travel, hobbies, health)

You don’t need a perfect budget; you just need a reasonable range.

For many people, this becomes:

“We’d be comfortable on around X a year.”
“We’d feel we have plenty room to breathe at Y a year.”

That’s far more useful than aiming at a vague lump sum.
You’re defining your version of “enough” in income terms.

Step 3: Take Stock Of Where You Are Now

With a sense of your target income, the next step is to review what you’ve already built.

List out:

Super balances (for you and your partner, if applicable)
Savings and offset accounts
Investment properties and shares
Any business interests
Other assets you may draw on in retirement

Also note:

Your age and your partner’s age
When you’d ideally like to cut back or stop work
How open you are to part‑time or consulting work for a period

Think of this as taking inventory, not passing or failing a test.
You’re simply gathering the information you need to make decisions.

From here, three main levers emerge:

How much you spend
How much you have (and how it’s invested)
How long you keep earning an income

You have more influence over these than it might feel at first.

Step 4: Understand The Real Risks

It’s common to focus on market volatility.

Questions like:

“What if there’s a downturn when I retire?”
“What if my super balance falls at the wrong time?”

Markets matter. But some of the biggest retirement risks are more subtle:

Overspending early
The first, more active phase of retirement is often when spending is highest. If that runs too hot, it can put pressure on later years.
Being too defensive
Sitting in too much cash for too long can quietly erode your purchasing power over a 20–30 year retirement.
Underestimating longevity
Planning as if life ends in your mid‑70s can leave you underprepared if you enjoy good health well into your 80s or 90s.
Not planning for health and care costs
These can be significant and are often left out of the conversation until very late.

Awareness of these risks is not a reason to panic; it’s a reason to build a plan that’s grounded in reality.

Step 5: Explore “What If?” Scenarios

This is often where clarity begins.

Once you know:

Your preferred annual income
Your current assets
Your rough retirement timeframe

You can start to explore questions such as:

What if I retire at 65 instead of 60?
What if I work three days a week for a few years rather than stopping completely?
What if we reduce annual spending slightly. How much flexibility does that create?
What if we eventually downsize and free up some home equity?

When we model these scenarios with clients, a pattern usually emerges:

Some discover they are closer to retirement than they realised.
Others see that they’re not quite there yet, but now understand what needs to happen over the next 3–10 years.

Either way, you move from “I have no idea” to “I can see the levers and the trade‑offs”.

Step 6: Acknowledge The Emotional Side

Even with a solid plan, it’s very normal to feel uneasy about retiring.

Some of the questions people share are:

“Who am I if I’m not in this role or running this business?”
“What will my days look like?”
“Will we get under each other’s feet at home?”
“Did I leave it too late to enjoy my money?”

Retirement is a financial change and a lifestyle change.
Both deserve attention.

Talking through the emotional side with your partner and with a professional who understands this stage of life, often makes the financial decisions feel less heavy and more consistent with your values.

Step 7: Turn Worry Into A Plan

Ultimately, answering “Can I afford to retire?” is about:

Clarifying what you want life to look like
Understanding what you’ve already built
Seeing the trade‑offs clearly, rather than guessing

A well‑constructed retirement plan will usually:

Map out several retirement ages and lifestyle options
Show how long your money is likely to last under different assumptions
Incorporate super, investments, property, tax and (where relevant) Centrelink
Stress‑test the plan for market volatility and longevity

The spreadsheets and projections are important, but for most people the real value is the feeling afterward:

“I can see the path.”
“We know what needs to happen.”
“We don’t have to keep carrying this in the back of our minds.”

What If The Answer Is “Not Yet”?

Sometimes, the honest outcome is:
“If you keep doing exactly what you’re doing, retiring at your ideal age will be tight.”

That isn’t failure. It’s timely information.

With that insight, you can consider options like:

Extending work for a few more years, or changing how you work
Adjusting spending now to boost retirement savings
Rethinking some larger goals or timeframes
Looking at how your investments are structured and whether they’re working hard enough for your plan

The key is discovering this early enough that you can still make meaningful changes.

You Don’t Have To Do This On Your Own

There’s no shortage of retirement information out there.
What’s hard to find is advice that:

Is grounded in your actual numbers and your actual life
Respects your values and preferred lifestyle
Is delivered in a way that feels calm and clear, not overwhelming

At Ikigai Wealth, we specialise in helping people in their 50s and 60s make confident decisions about the next chapter, not just the next investment.

If you’ve been carrying the “Can I afford to retire?” question for a while, it may be time to move it out of your head and into a proper plan.

A good conversation and a clear strategy can turn years of low‑level worry into a sense of direction and ease about what comes next.