“What is Australia’s retirement age?” or “What age can I retire?” are common questions. The simple answer is “it depends”, because there is no such thing as a ‘retirement age’ in Australia, nor any laws that dictate when someone can retire.

In theory, you can choose to retire whenever you want. A better question to ask would be “When should I retire?”. That’s a very personal decision that depends principally on when you can financially support the lifestyle you want to lead in retirement.

In practice, there are two age rules that impact when most Australians can retire because they allow you to access funds to support your retirement. These are:

Preservation age : This is the age when you can access your super funds provided you have also met a condition of release (such as retiring or turning 65).

: This is the age when you can access your super funds provided you have also met a condition of release (such as retiring or turning 65). Age Pension age: This is the age when you can access Australia’s Age Pension, provided that you’re an Australian resident and you pass both the income test and the assets test.

You can find out your preservation age and Age Pension eligibility age by entering your date of birth into our retirement age reckoner. Alternatively, the table below provides the preservation age and Age Pension age for a range of birth years.

Birth year Preservation age Age Pension age 1949, 1950 or 1951 55 65 1952 55 65 (if you were born between 1 January 1952 and 30 June 1952)

or 65 years and 6 months (if you were born between 1 July 1952 and 31 December 1952) 1953 55 65 years and 6 months 1954 55 66 1955 55 66 (if you were born between 1 January 1955 and 30 June 1955)

or 66 years and 6 months (if you were born between 1 July 1955 and 31 December 1955) 1956 55 66 years and 6 months 1957, 1958 or 1959 55 67 1960 55 (if you were born between 1 January 1960 and 30 June 1960)

or 56 (if you were born between 1 July 1960 and 31 December 1960) 67 1961 56 (if you were born between 1 January 1961 and 30 June 1961)

or 57 (if you were born between 1 July 1961 and 31 December 1961) 67 1962 57 (if you were born between 1 January 1962 and 30 June 1962)

or 58 (if you were born between 1 July 1962 and 31 December 1962) 67 1963 58 (if you were born between 1 January 1963 and 30 June 1963)

or 59 (if you were born between 1 July 1963 and 31 December 1963) 67 1964 59 (if you were born between 1 January 1964 and 30 June 1964)

or 60 (if you were born between 1 July 1964 and 31 December 1964) 67 1965 or later 60 67

The bottom line

Deciding when you should retire is an important financial decision. You can use the preservation and Age Pension eligibility ages as a guide, but it’s worth seeking independent professional advice based on your financial circumstances and goals. Doing this will help you to make a decision that will enable you to lead a lifestyle you can afford in retirement.

The information contained in this article is general in nature.