The most important number in your retirement plan isn't your super balance

And in today's newspapers, 'Retirement is powerful and freeing. It’s time we treated it that way'

In this week’s edition:

• Feature: The most important number in your retirement plan isn't your super balance

• Newspapers: Retirement is powerful and freeing. It’s time we treated it that way

• Podcast: Fighting the grey stigma

• From Bec’s Desk: Highlights!

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The most important number in your retirement plan isn’t your super balance

(It’s how much life actually costs.)

If you’ve been quietly stressing about your super balance, you’re not alone. It’s become the headline number — the one everyone watches, measures, and compares. But here’s the thing: it’s not the number that matters most.

The real number — the one that can make or break your retirement — is your annual spending.

Because retirement isn’t just about how much you have saved. It’s about how much you need.

Let’s say you’ve got $600,000 in super.

If your lifestyle only costs $45,000 a year, then you’ve got options. You might be able to retire earlier than expected, or work part-time and stretch it out. If you’re eligible for the Age Pension down the track, even better — that reduces the pressure on your nest egg.

But if your lifestyle quietly costs $90,000 a year — and you’ve never really tracked it? That same super balance suddenly looks fragile. You could burn through it in 10 years and still have decades of retirement to fund.

Most people don’t know what they’re spending

I’m not talking about budgets here. I’m talking about awareness.

In your working years, you often live on autopilot. Income comes in, bills go out. But once you stop earning a full wage, the equation flips. You need to know: What does my lifestyle actually cost me every year?

This is your “burn rate.” And once you know it, you can build your plan around it.

Retirement is just cash flow

When you strip everything back, retirement isn’t a date or a dollar figure. It’s a cash flow puzzle.
If your income from super, investments, the Age Pension, and part-time work adds up to more than your spending? You’re good. If it doesn’t? You’ve got time to adjust.

That’s why this number — your annual spending — is so powerful. It gives you control. It helps you answer the real question: Can I afford the life I want?

So before you panic about your super balance, take 20 minutes to figure out your real number. Not the one you think it should be — the one it is.

You can use the budgeting chapter in How to Have an Epic Retirement to guide you, and the template available to everyone who’s bought the book.

Because once you know what life costs, you can shape your retirement around reality — not fear.

Another long weekend — for Queenslanders anyway! This time I am not editing the manuscript for Prime Time — it’s done!

But I’ll be coming back early for our Week 4 Live Q&A for the How to Have an Epic Retirement Flagship Course with Jen Harding head of Education, Engagement and Advice from HESTA. It’s a great opportunity for people to find out how superannuation and investing really works from an insider.

This week was a whirlwind. The highlight was definitely presenting at Hostplus’s Retirement events in Melbourne. Thousands of people tuned in and showed up for Hostplus’s biggest round of retirement events ever! A real thrill to be MC and the keynote speaker for their pre-retirement event too!

In the week ahead there’s more excitement! I’m presenting online for Care Super Members on the 6 pillars of an Epic Retirement this Thursday evening (8th May), in “a high-energy, eye-opening live webinar on the six key pillars to building a rewarding and meaningful life after work.” Should be terrific fun. More here.

We’ve had two great podcasts in the week just gone. The first one was with Catherine Greer, author and champion for midlife women about her journey to ditch the dye and let her grey shine through (and her new book!).

And with the election looming, on Friday we grabbed a last-minute conversation with our go-to guru for making sense of things that span economics and politics, Shane Wright, Senior Economics Correspondent at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Our 25% off Earlybird Deal is live for our Spring Edition of the How to Have an Epic Retirement Flagship Course. The course kicks off on the 28th August. 👉🏻 More information here 👉🏻

Got thoughts this week — hit reply to email me or leave a comment.

Cheers, Bec Wilson

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

Retirement is powerful and freeing. It’s time we treated it that way

Extract of article published in print in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times, WA Today on Sunday 4th May 2025.

In your working years, there’s structure. A job to show up to. Bills to pay. A mortgage to chip away at. School runs, packed calendars, the occasional holiday, a few career steps to climb.

Life is shaped by outside forces – deadlines, obligations, the steady rhythm of earning and spending. You can stay busy in that rhythm for decades. Never look too far ahead. Never open your super statement. Never stop to ask what happens next.

But then one day, the structure starts to loosen. The kids leave home. The career ladder stops looking so appealing – or maybe you’ve climbed as far as you care to. And for the first time, the idea of retirement starts to feel real. Not theoretical. Not distant. Just … there. On the horizon.

And suddenly, there’s no clear next step.

There’s no manager giving you a new title. No family schedule running your days. Just questions. Can I afford to stop working? Do I even want to stop? How do I turn my super into income? What will my life actually look like when it’s not ruled by routine?

This is the moment that catches many people off guard. Retirement has been sold to us as a finish line, a reward. But in reality, it’s a blank canvas. There’s no script. No formula. Even financial planners, when asked what to do next, often throw the question back: Well, what are your goals? (READ ON… in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald. )

In this episode of Prime Time, I’m joined by the wonderful Catherine Greer — an Australian-Canadian author, copywriter, baker, and mother — to talk about something so many of us are thinking about in midlife: going grey.

Catherine shares her honest journey of choosing to ditch the dye before it became trendy, how it felt to let her natural silver hair come through, and what it taught her about ageing, authenticity, and freedom. We talk about why going grey can feel like an act of rebellion, how the pressure to stay young is still stitched into our culture, and why midlife is actually the vibrant middle — not the end — of our lives.

We also dive into Catherine’s new novel, The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe, a beautiful celebration of resilience, creativity, and starting over in the middle of life. If you’re feeling the pull toward authenticity, creativity, or just a little tired of the endless salon visits, you’ll love this conversation.

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE OF THE PODCAST HERE:

• LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

• LISTEN ON SPOTIFY

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