One in three Australians aged 55 and over who are still working have taken no steps to prepare for retirement, and one in five do not know what they plan to do with their superannuation – even as two-thirds of that group describe themselves as engaged or highly engaged with their finances. That is among the central findings of the second edition of TAL’s What I Wish I Knew About Retirement, an online survey of 2,000 Australians aged 55 and over conducted in 2026, comprising 873 pre-retirees and 1,127 retirees. Shaun Bransdon, general manager, retirement and wealth at TAL, said the results point to an information gap rather than a lack of interest. “People care deeply about their financial futures and they’re paying attention – but we don’t see that in the actions they’re taking to plan for this critical life stage. Many feel they don’t have all the information they need,” Bransdon said.
Retirement often arrives earlier than expected. The TAL survey found that 61% of current retirees left the workforce before age 65, yet only 15% of pre-retirees expected to retire that early. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures from 2024-25 reflect the same pattern at the national level: the average age at which Australians actually retired that year was 63.8 years, while the average intended retirement age sits at 65.6 years.
Bransdon said the financial cost of an unplanned early exit compounds quickly. “If you’re planning to work until 67 but have to leave at 62, you’ve lost five years of contributions at peak earning capacity. For many, that’s significant,” he said. Cost-of-living conditions are adding further pressure. Only 29% of pre-retirees in the TAL survey said they had money left over for regular saving or investing, and nearly half expected their spending power to decline in retirement. The proportion planning to work past 70 rose from 27% in 2024 to 36% in 2026.
Among those already retired, 48% said they had taken no meaningful action to prepare before leaving work – up from 39% in the 2024 edition of the survey. Of those who did plan ahead, only a quarter had started before their 50s, and more than one-third did not act until their 60s or later. One-third of pre-retirees expected their retirement to last more than 20 years, yet nearly half thought their superannuation would run out before that point. Among retirees now in their 80s, one in five said they wished they had spent more freely in their earlier retirement years. Knowledge of available retirement products remains limited. Just 38% of pre-retirees said they were familiar with how pension accounts or lifetime income products work.
Among retirees who took a lump sum from their superannuation, 66% reported satisfaction with that decision. That figure rises to 81% among those who left their super in accumulation and to roughly 90% among those who moved into pension accounts or lifetime income products. Despite the higher satisfaction rates associated with income products, 66% of current retirees said they would have considered a lifetime income product had it been clearly presented to them at the time of retirement. When asked what they would do if their money ran out, 40% of retirees said they would reduce spending and 34% said they would rely on the Age Pension – which the TAL report notes falls below the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia’s (ASFA) modest retirement standard for many household types.
The survey found that 64% of pre-retirees trusted their superannuation fund to advise them on retirement needs. When asked to identify the features that mattered most in a retirement product, two-thirds named a lifetime income and income that kept pace with inflation – a more pronounced preference for certainty than was recorded in the 2024 edition of the study. Bransdon said those numbers reflect an opening for funds to extend the relationships they have built with members during the accumulation phase. “Super funds are stepping into this opportunity, building on the trust developed with members over their working lives. Options like guided settings, information on how different retirement income options work together with the Age Pension, and tools that help them make decisions that suit their circumstances, could help more Australians approach retirement with confidence,” he said.
Bransdon said the structure of retirement income products needs to balance access with predictability. “Retirement income strategies work best when flexibility is combined with certainty. Account-based pensions provide growth potential and capital access for active years, while lifetime income streams support spending confidence and can reduce Age Pension reliance. Without certainty about future income, even retirees with adequate savings may default to conservative spending. Product design can help – giving people confidence to enjoy their retirement while knowing their essential needs are covered,” he said. Of the pre-retirees surveyed, 87% said they would want to learn more about lifetime income products if their fund offered one – a figure that points to demand that the market has yet to fully address.
