Nearly half of Australians heading into retirement are worried they’ll run out of money. Are you one of them?

Feature: Nearly half of Australians heading into retirement are worried they’ll run out of money. Are you one of them? From Bec’s Desk: Extra seats The Age and Sydney Morning Herald: Worried you’ll lose your job before retiring? Try these six steps Prime Time: Are you proactive about the risk of losing your job with Jannine Fraser? But first, an ad for our upcoming course… Our next program kicks off on 14 May, and our Earlybird deal (25% off) is now open—but places are limited. Hundreds of people have already booked and this is on track to be the biggest Epic Retirement Course yet! This is a six-week retirement education program designed to build your confidence and help you make sense of the many decisions ahead. Learn more about the course here ➡️ A new study released this week by Australia’s corporate regulator, ASIC, found that nearly half of Australians aged 50–66 are worried about running out of money in retirement. Almost a third say they feel behind in their preparations. And only 18% have a clear retirement plan. Those are striking numbers. But here’s the one that really caught my attention: Only 26% of pre-retirees demonstrate a strong understanding of retirement finances, yet 41% say they feel confident they can manage. Read that again. More people feel confident than actually are. And far more people feel worried than have actually done the maths. What this tells me isn’t that Australians are bad at money. It’s that most people are operating on a vague sense of where they stand – and vague is almost always worse than the actual reality. The problem with “I think I’m okay” Retirement anxiety thrives in the gap between what you feel and what you know to be true. When you don’t have a clear picture of your numbers, your brain fills in the blanks (usually with the worst version of events). The fix lies in building your own clear picture. And it doesn’t need to be complicated. Here’s where to start. Step 1: Know your number – what will retirement actually cost you? Before you worry about whether you have enough, you need to work out enough for what. Most people skip this step. They focus on the balance in their super account without ever defining the lifestyle it needs to fund. Start with a budget in today’s money. What does a good life look like for you each year? What are your non-negotiables – the trips, the weekends away, the dinners out, the golf, the grandkids? The ASFA Retirement Standard gives you a useful benchmark: a comfortable lifestyle for a single retiree currently costs around $55,000 a year, and for a couple around $77,500. If your vision of retirement is more active or ambitious than that – and for many in the Epic community, it is, then your number will be higher. Map that out honestly. That’s your target income. Step 2: Know what you’ve got This sounds obvious, but most people have a rough idea rather than a real picture. Take stock of: Your super balance (and what it’s invested in) Any other investments or savings outside super Whether you’re likely to qualify for a full or part Age Pension Any income you expect to generate – part-time work, rent, a business Don’t forget: for most Australians, super plus a part Age Pension will form the backbone of retirement income. You don’t need to fund everything yourself from super alone. The Age Pension can be juicy in the amount of support it offers. Step 3: Bridge the gap – or confirm there isn’t one Once you have your target income budget and a picture of what you’ve got, you can actually do the maths. This is where a lot of people get a pleasant surprise: the gap is smaller than they feared, or maybe doesn’t exist at all. If there is a gap, you’ve still got time to do something about it – whether that’s contributing more to super, adjusting your retirement timing, or rethinking what a great retirement actually costs. The point is: you can’t fix a problem you haven’t defined and understood. And you can’t feel genuinely confident without actually running the numbers. The real issue The research found that 58% of pre-retirees want to learn more about superannuation and retirement. That’s not a lack of interest. It’s a lack of clear, practical guidance that speaks to their actual situation. If you’ve been in that “I think I’m okay... probably” camp, this is your nudge. Not to panic – but to look. Because for most people who actually do the work, the picture is better than they expected. (Trust me - I see it all the time in my course) And if it isn’t? Better to know now, when there’s still time to act. The Epic Retirement course and/or book walks you through exactly this process building your own retirement picture step by step, so you can move from worry to excitement about your retirement. Get your copy of my books here: How to Have an Epic Retirement and if you’re not ready for retirement, Prime Time: 27 Lessons for the New Midlife. Or explore the course here: Epicretirement.net/upcoming-courses 30 degrees in Brisbane, 13 degrees in Adelaide and 5 degrees in Hobart. That was my week of weather. Next week I’ll get to see what Sydney and Melbourne weather is like, on the road again with AMP North, keynoting at their Adviser roadshow. I’m talking about the future of retirement as I travel around. It’s super-fun because I’m sharing what everyday people (YOU!) want! This week I’ve been working on reels, and podcasts while on the road and I really need your help. I’m hoping a few of you might want to tell your story of finding your sense of purpose and trying new things on a short 3-4 ish minute audio clip. Just script out your message, record it on your phone and send it to me via messenger on FB or email by replying to this email. We want to include your stories (and your real voices) on the podcast - and think of how much fun this will be if we can get you doing it. And in other news, my new project with my daughter, Paris is well underway designed to teach parents and kids how they can start from nothing, save, invest and build their own journey onto the housing ladder. You can find An.Epic.Start as a new handle on Instagram, Tiktok and Facebook. That’s stage one (come along and have a look - I’m very proud of the work Paris has been doing here - and her friends and our growing younger community appears to be enjoying int). Then there’s going to be a book too! It’s filling every spare crack in my brain - which is fun. I enjoy research. And lastly, the How to Have an Epic Retirement Flagship Course kicking off in May is definitely going to be our biggest yet! Hundreds of people have registered. I’m extending the Earlybird 25% off deal through this weekend because it’s already hit its limited number of seats. Remember, you can come along as a couple and do it together. You can also ask your employer to pay for it if you want! Now, the sun is out, it’s Sunday morning, so go enjoy the peace and tranquility. Until next week — make it epic. Cheers, Bec xx Author, podcast host, columnist, retirement educator, and guest speaker There’s a worry appearing in the minds of fifty- and sixty-somethings in Australia right now. People who’ve had long, successful careers are lying awake wondering whether their number is coming up before they’re ready. Whether AI, a restructure, or a shifting market will cut their runway short before they’ve hit their super goal, cleared their mortgage, or got themselves thoroughly prepared. It’s not an unreasonable fear. According to the ABS, in 2024-25 only one in three Australians retired because they actually chose to, reaching retirement age or becoming eligible for their super on their own terms. Everyone else was pushed out by health, redundancy, caring responsibilities or circumstances well beyond their control. And that was before AI genuinely entered the workforce equation. And there’s one thing we’re not telling ourselves loudly enough: it won’t just be one type of worker who feels this next wave. It will be anyone doing work that can be replicated faster,…