Planning retirement when one partner is older than the other

Feature: Planning retirement when one partner is older than the other From Bec’s Desk: Fun times The Age and Sydney Morning Herald: The retirement rule book just changed. Here’s what you need to know Prime Time: Before you switch your super, listen to this Five years, seven years or maybe even ten years. When you’re 35 and falling in love, an age gap barely registers. When you’re 58 and your partner is 51, or 65, it registers everywhere. Because now you’re running two life-clocks into retirement. Two timelines heading toward the same financial targets, but not necessarily at the same speed. Target one: preservation age, when super becomes accessible. Target two: Age Pension age. Those two clocks don’t always tick together. So let’s start with the practical reality. The older partner can access super earlier. Start an account-based pension earlier. Reach Age Pension age earlier. But Centrelink doesn’t see you as two separate people. It assesses you as a couple, whether that suits you or not. When the older partner hits pension age, the younger partner’s work income still counts in the income test. Your assets are assessed together. Everything is linked. This is exactly why sequencing matters so much. There’s a window most couples don’t know exists. While the younger partner is still under Age Pension age, their super in accumulation is generally exempt from the assets test for the couple. It’s not a loophole. It’s just an opportunity created by timing. And it can be a meaningful one. For that period, one partner may qualify for some pension while the younger partner’s super sits outside the assets test. Drawdowns can be structured deliberately. But once the younger partner reaches pension age, their super comes into the assets test too and the window closes. This isn’t about sheltering assets forever. It’s about understanding the staging on two things: The ability to access a little more Age Pension, if it’s available, and using it cleverly. The ability to access superannuation when one partner turns 60 and retires, which might allow debt to be cleared or lifestyle choices to be made earlier for both. But remember: you are not one age. You are two. Which means your retirement plan rarely fits a single date circled on a calendar. It usually needs to be phased. Phase one: the older partner reduces or stops work. Phase two: the younger partner transitions. Phase three: you arrive at a shared lifestyle. That’s the financial shape of it. Then there’s the human side. When one partner retires and the other keeps working, you’re suddenly living in two different life stages under the same roof. One has freedom. One has Monday morning meetings. One wants midweek lunches; the other has deliverables due. I’ve seen couples navigate this beautifully. I’ve also watched resentment arrive quietly, without any announcement. It’s rarely just about money. It’s about expectations. The retired partner might assume their travelling lifestyle begins immediately. The working partner might feel pressure to keep earning, or guilt, or low-level irritation they can’t quite name. Age gaps tend to amplify whatever communication gaps already exist, so if you know this is likely territory for you, get ahead of it - talk about it, explore how you’ll navigate these risks together. And then there’s longevity risk. It’s often overlooked, and nearly always significant. If one partner is considerably older, they may need care earlier. Their partner may become their carer earlier too. That shapes housing decisions, drawdown rates, whether you downsize sooner, and how much you prioritise liquidity. You’re effectively managing four clocks simultaneously: super access, pension eligibility, the end of work identity, and your health trajectories. Mapped consciously, an age gap can actually create flexibility. But it brings its own complexity too. The question isn’t just when do we retire? It’s what does each stage look like for each of us? And how do we keep both people’s goals, dreams and hopes in the picture. That’s where the real planning starts. Relate to this? Tell me what you’ve learned. I cover a lot more on this in both my books - How to Have an Epic Retirement and if you’re not ready for retirement, Prime Time: 27 Lessons for the New Midlife. This week has been a big one for changes to retirement numbers. I’m almost whiplashed by how many. Late last week we had changes to the deeming rates, which will flow through with the Age Pension indexation on 20 March. Then this week, ASFA fundamentally changed their retirement benchmarks. This isn’t just a tweak. It changes the way the industry talks about what retirement actually costs, for the first time in three years. And on Thursday, wages data triggered an increase to super contribution caps from 1 July: Concessional caps will rise to $32,500. Non-concessional caps will rise to $130,000. If you’re thinking about using the bring-forward rule, pause before you act. If you trigger it this financial year, you lock in today’s lower caps. Once the new caps roll through on 1 July, you can’t retrospectively access the higher numbers. That doesn’t mean don’t do it. It just means make a conscious decision about timing. My Sydney Morning Herald article this weekend breaks down all the changes, and I have a podcast coming out Tuesday with Mary Delahunty, ASFA’s CEO, to help navigate what the new benchmarks actually mean. Keep an eye out. Inside the Epic Retirement world, we’re into week two of our two flagship programs: the HESTA Exclusive Epic Retirement Course and the How to Have an Epic Retirement course. The chatter has been terrific. I genuinely love sitting down each day to answer questions as they come in. People are working through the videos, doing the exercises, having lightbulb moments. Both programs combine self-paced lessons and workbooks with live events. Flexible, but with the shared momentum of doing it with a peer group. I’m incredibly grateful to HESTA for backing this for their members, and to everyone who has signed up and shown up. On a completely different note, I’ve been home in Brisbane this week, and somehow managed to squeeze in a Viking Ocean cruise ship tour and a pickleball lesson alongside the podcasts, courses and gym sessions. The cruise ship visit coincided with a podcast I released with the wonderful Kathy Lette, comedic author of Puberty Blues and her latest bestseller The Sisterhood Rules. As a travel writer she’s taken many Viking cruises, so she came in to share what the experience is really like, and the difference between river and ocean cruising. Between the show and the ship tour, I picked up a few things regular cruisers probably already know. Every ocean cabin has a balcony. All food and non-alcoholic drinks are included, no surprise bills at the end. Wine, beer and cocktails are available through a drinks package at around $41 per person per day, and it’s not bottom-shelf. You can also bring your own wine onboard with no corkage, which sounds pretty perfect on a French river cruise. Free internet across the fleet, a Nordic spa open to all guests, a big modern gym, and ocean ships carry 998 passengers compared to around 190 on a river cruise. It feels spacious. There are more highlights over on my Facebook post if you want a closer look. Then came pickleball. I did my introductory lesson on Saturday and I have to say, I can see why people get hooked. Easy to pick up, courts half the size of tennis, and once you’ve done your intro session you can jump on an app and find a game near you for around ten or twelve dollars. Apparently it’s addictive. I’ll report back. A big week of retirement numbers, a cruise education and pickleball. That’s Prime Time for you. You never quite know what’s ahead. Until next week - make it epic! Cheers Bec xx Author, podcast host, columnist, retirement educator, and guest speaker If you’re over 50 and paying even passing attention to your financial future, the last couple of weeks…