How Does Your Super Balance Compare to Others Your Age?
Superannuation is designed to be invisible while you're working — money flows in quietly, the fund handles the investing, and you don't think about it until retirement is suddenly close. That invisibility has a downside: most Australians have no idea whether they're on track or not.
The ATO publishes superannuation statistics annually, and the picture they reveal is sobering for many people.
Average vs Median — Which Number Matters More?
When looking at super balances, the median is almost always more useful than the average. High balances among the wealthy skew the average upward significantly. The median — the midpoint where half of people have more and half have less — gives you a truer picture of where a 'typical' person stands.
Super Balance Benchmarks by Age Group
Based on the most recent ATO data (2022–23 tax year), here are approximate figures. Note that average figures are higher than medians due to the concentration of large balances at the top:
| Age Group | Average Balance | Median Balance |
|---|---|---|
| 25–29 | $23,000 | $10,500 |
| 30–34 | $44,000 | $23,000 |
| 35–39 | $72,000 | $42,000 |
| 40–44 | $107,000 | $65,000 |
| 45–49 | $152,000 | $94,000 |
| 50–54 | $198,000 | $124,000 |
| 55–59 | $265,000 | $163,000 |
| 60–64 | $360,000 | $210,000 |
| 65–69 | $430,000 | $245,000 |
These figures include all account holders, including those who've taken career breaks, worked part-time, or moved between employers with long gaps. If you've had continuous full-time employment in Australia, you should generally be above the median for your age group.
What 'Enough' Looks Like at Retirement
The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) publishes retirement living cost benchmarks every quarter. For a comfortable retirement at 67:
- Comfortable lifestyle (couple): approximately $73,000/year, requiring around $690,000 in super at retirement
- Comfortable lifestyle (single): approximately $51,000/year, requiring around $595,000 in super at retirement
- Modest lifestyle (couple): approximately $46,000/year — largely covered by the Age Pension plus a modest super balance
'Comfortable' means reasonable travel, car ownership, and private health insurance. It does not mean luxury.
Use the Retirement Savings Calculator to plug in your current balance, years to retirement, and expected return to see what you'll actually have when you stop working.
The Gender Super Gap
The data consistently shows a significant gap between male and female super balances across all age groups. At retirement age (60–64), the average male balance is typically 30–40% higher than the average female balance — a result of lower average wages, career interruptions for caring responsibilities, and higher rates of part-time work among women.
