‘Working till 67, hoping for the best’

The shift can be cancelled two minutes before it starts. That is the arithmetic Antony* has lived on for a decade as a casual community-sector support worker, transporting and supervising children in care, some days a 150-kilometre round trip. “If my shift gets cancelled, I don’t get paid,” the 59-year-old says. “And that can be anywhere up to two minutes before I start.”

Three shifts one week brings in about $400, exactly his weekly mortgage payment and nothing else. A flat-out week of 10 brings $1600. School holidays thin the shifts; the six weeks over Christmas might hold two or three shifts. His working rule: “Do it while I can get it, and while I can do it.”

The plan he made alone

Antony has about $98,000 in super and about $100,000 left on his mortgage for his modest three-bedroom home. His plan: work to 67, use the super to pay out whatever remains of the mortgage, live on the Government Age Pension. He turns 60 in January, the age from which Australians can generally begin accessing super, and nobody has walked him through what that means; 67 is the only number in his plan. Eight years as a stay-at-home dad meant his first super contribution landed when he was around 30. Paying fees on three separate super accounts eventually prompted him to roll them all into one.

Fewer than half of Australians aged 50 to 64 feel confident about retirement, according to AMP’s 2026 Retirement Confidence Pulse. At his age, the gap between those who worry about running out of money in retirement and those who don’t is a chasm: 26 per cent feel confident, against 82 per cent who don’t.

He knows which side he is on. “I’m eventually going to run out of money after I retire, and there’s nothing I can physically do to make it any better,” he says. “So I’ve just accepted it.” A friend, retired before 60, is off to Canada, then Hawaii. “I’m happy for them. I’d like to go to Hawaii, but I don’t think that’ll ever happen for me.”

When the plan met a fever

Then pneumonia arrived. Six weeks, no shifts, no sick pay, no income. He had gone guarantor on one of his children’s homes, his own house as security, so the redraw on his mortgage, his usual backup, was unavailable. Suddenly, he was asking his kids for money. “I felt really vulnerable.”

AMP director of growth and customer solutions Julie Slapp hears the same across the research. “The size of a super balance is important, but on its own it doesn’t tell someone what their retirement will look like,” she says. “People tend to feel more confident when they can translate that balance into a realistic income and understand where their money will come from month to month once their pay cheque stops.”

The sum he has never done

It’s a step Antony has never taken. He guesses the full Government Age Pension at “about a thousand a fortnight”. He hasn’t done the sums, or registered that the $400 a week he sends to the mortgage, double the required payment, will vanish from his living costs the day the house is paid out. “I’m a bit of an ostrich sometimes. Put my head in the sand and figure it out later.”

Starting is simpler than it feels, says AMP general manager of guidance and advice Andrea Boss: “List your super, savings, investments, property and debts, then estimate your spending. A simple snapshot is far more valuable than putting it off because it feels overwhelming. If you changed nothing from today, how much retirement income would you have, and how does that compare to what you want to live on?”

Antony has done more right than he credits himself: the doubled mortgage payments, the extra super contributions made early on, a decade of hard, necessary work. What he has never had is the picture. His advice to his 40-year-old self suggests as much: “Put more money in your superannuation. Only because I know how important it is now.”

And after the last shift? “What am I going to do to keep myself occupied all day?” he asks. “I might have to take up salsa dancing!”

Retirement can come with big questions. When the answers aren’t clear, fear can often fill the gaps. AMP Super’s Retire the Fear hub offers practical tools, guidance and support to help you understand where you stand, explore your options and take the next step with greater confidence. Visit amp.com.au/retirethefear.

*Name and some identifying details have been changed at the interviewee’s request.

Disclaimer:

This information is general in nature and does not constitute financial product advice. Readers should consider their own circumstances, consider seeking independent professional advice, and consult the relevant PDS and TMD before making decisions.

AMP Super (SignatureSuper) is issued by N. M. Superannuation Proprietary Limited ABN 31 008 428 322, AFSL 234654 (NM Super) as trustee of the AMP Super Fund ABN 78 421 957 449. PDS and TMD available on amp.com.au.