Are you ready to retire? Depends which kind of ready you mean

And in this weekend's newspapers: 'Over 50? Use these seven ways to boost your super before July 1'

In this edition

Feature: Are you ready to retire? Depends which kind of ready you mean

From Bec’s Desk: Letting life happen

The Age and Sydney Morning Herald: Over 50? Use these seven ways to boost your super before July 1

Prime Time: Finding meaning outside of work

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Are you ready to retire? Depends which kind of ready you mean

Type “am I ready to retire” into Google and you’ll get calculators, checklists, and articles telling you to aim for 70% of your pre-retirement income. All these tools are useful. All are focused on your money.

But that’s not really what you’re asking at 11pm on a Tuesday when you type those words, is it? What you actually want to know is: will I be okay? And that’s an entirely different question.

I’ve spoken with hundreds of people who had their finances completely sorted and still hit retirement like a concrete wall. It wasn’t the money that caught them off guard. It was the regularity of Monday morning. The empty diary and no plans, and no rhythm or social framework to slot into. That plus the odd feeling of invisibility. There’s often a realisation that most of their social life had been running through their work or at the very least, through their work networks, without them ever noticing it.

The first few weeks of retirement can feel like a holiday. Then something shifts, and suddenly “what am I actually doing today?” starts to feel like a question that needs a more valuable answer than just “whatever I want”. You’ve got skills, you’ve got a brain, you’ve got time. But you haven’t worked out how to use them differently, for the social benefits, the lifestyle moments and the pure joy of it.

This is something we call the adjustment phase. Be alert to it, even prepared for it. It’s completely normal. But most people have never heard of it and don’t talk about the tough bits, so most aren’t ready for it.

So how do you really actually know if you’re ready?

It’s not about whether you feel excited for or nervous about retirement. Most people feel both. It’s about whether you’ve thought through the things that work has been taking care of for you - the social networks, the adrenalin rushes of achievement and the feeling of having purpose.

Sit with these before you hand in your notice and think about them:

Where does your sense of self come from right now? If the honest answer is mostly your job title, worth knowing that before you walk out the door.

Who will you actually spend time with in retirement? And I don’t mean on holidays. I mean on an ordinary Wednesday. Work friends are great until they’re not your colleagues anymore. And people you do deals with might not need to take you to lunch when there’s no deals to be done.

What’s going to get you out of bed? I don’t mean a vague plan to read more or potter in the garden. Think up something specific, with enough pull to give your week some shape.

Then contemplate - if you are you running toward something, or away from something? Retiring to escape a bad job or a shitty boss is very different from retiring toward a life you’ve designed, thought through and have a vision of. The people who land well usually have the second picture sorted.

And have you actually tested any of this? Take a longer break. Spend a week without work structure. Take your long service leave - if you dare. See how it feels in real life, not just in your head.

And then remember, you don’t need to have it all figured out. Nobody does. Retirement isn’t a moment you either nail or don’t. It’s a transition, and transitions take time to find their shape. But going in knowing that the emotional side is just as real as the financial side puts you in a much stronger position than most people who only run the numbers to check if they are ready.

So yes, check your super, do the sums, make sure the money works. Then ask yourself the harder questions too. Because those are the ones that will really tell you whether you’re ready.

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Cold, wet and rainy - in Queensland. Have we got the wrong weather report? I’ve been dodging downpours every morning on my walks this week. My littlest dog and I have come home a few times looking like drowned rats.

But another very entertaining week running retirement courses in two countries and writing more programs in-between for future rollouts with funds.

And this week we’re celebrating the 4th birthday of The Epic Retirement Club on Facebook! It’s the biggest retirement club or Facebook group on retirement in the world. There’s 22 moderators around the world who work together - all volunteers - keeping the club safe, free of inappropriate stuff and full of fun! A huge thanks to all those mods! And to everyone who enjoys being part of it.

This week the Epic Retirement Course in Australia has hit week 5. The money lessons are done and we’re onto health, purpose and happiness - some of my favourite topics. We welcomed David Lane for our Live Q&A on Investing your super, SMSFs and Financial Advice. And we held our first Live Q&A in the UK too - a lovely 3.30am event to keep me on my toes.

Then I closed my week in the emergency room for two days, with my son needing an emergency appendectomy (is there any other kind?) right in the middle of his senior exams. Nothing like Murphy’s law is there. But his appendix is now out and he’s doing well - lapping up all the attention with all the exams delayed.

So this weekend I’m taking a digital detox. Unusual for me. You’ll see everything is scheduled to happen just like it should - the reels, the podcasts, the newsletters and the newspapers. I will just be letting life happen, with a cup of tea, a good book and some board games in the periodically rainy queensland weather.

I hope you find time out occasionally too.

Make it epic!

Cheers - Bec Xx

Author, podcast host, columnist, retirement educator, and guest speaker

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Over 50? Use these seven ways to boost your super before July 1

The end of financial year is just two weeks away. But for everyone in a major Australian super fund, you don’t actually have the full two weeks – it’s actually closer to one week before the big super funds close off their contributions for the end of this financial year.

So snap to it! It’s time to take advantage of all the little incentives available to get ahead. Here are the things I think anyone looking into the second half of life should consider doing before the doors of this financial year close, especially if you can see retirement in your future.

1. Look for co-contribution opportunities

My first suggestion is for those who don’t have a lot of money coming in, who can take advantage of the government co-contribution that’s designed to boost the super of those who need it. Yes – you heard me right – free money from the government!

If you’re eligible, all you need to do is make a voluntary contribution to your super of $1000 and the government will top it up with up to $500, depending on your eligibility.

If you or your partner or adult children earn less than $47,488 and the account holder contributes $1000 as a personal contribution, that person will receive the full $500 bonus. It’s an amount that gradually phases out up to the top income threshold of $62,488.

If all this baffles you, and you want some help, call your super fund’s help lines.

There are some conditions, of course, to qualify. Ten per cent or more of your total income must be from working or running a business, and you must be under 71 years of age at the end of the financial year. Also, you can’t claim a tax deduction for the personal contribution.

This article continues. It was published in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday 13th June 2026. Read the whole article here. Note - it has a sign-up gate but no paywall.

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In the second instalment of our New Rhythm of Retirement three-part mini series with Aware Super, we’re tackling a question that doesn’t get nearly enough attention:

What are you retiring to?

For many of us, work isn’t just how we earn a living. It’s how we spend our time, build relationships, challenge ourselves and make sense of who we are, which is why retirement can sometimes arrive with an unexpected identity crisis.

In this episode, I speak with clinical neuropsychologist Professor Nancy Pachana about finding purpose beyond your job title, overcoming the shock of the first “workless Tuesday”, and why curiosity may be one of the most important ingredients for healthy ageing.

Then I sit down with Lynda Cross from Aware Super to explore the financial side of the equation: how to build enough flexibility into your retirement plan to fund not just your lifestyle, but the passions, projects and experiences that give life meaning.

There’s more to retirement than money; it’s also about creating a life you look forward to waking up to. Don’t just retire from something, retire to something.

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE OF THE PODCAST HERE:

• LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

• LISTEN ON SPOTIFY

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