What does a good day look like?

And in today's newspapers, 'Retiring without $1 million? Don’t worry, so is everyone else'

In this week’s edition:

• Feature: What does a good day look like?

• Newspapers: Retiring without $1 million? Don’t worry, so is everyone else

• Podcast: How to have the hard conversations with your parents with Jean Kittson

• From Bec’s Desk: A wild week

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What does a good day look like?

Have you ever stopped to think about what a good day in retirement will look like for you?

Forget bucket lists for a moment. I’m not talking about the dream trip to Tuscany or walking the Camino. I’m talking about a regular Tuesday. One of the 10,000 ordinary days you’ll live in retirement.

What does a good one look like?

Not extraordinary. Not packed with big plans. Just a solid, satisfying day in this new season of life.

It’s a question we don’t ask often enough. Retirement planning usually circles around the big stuff - super balances, travel goals, downsizing, whether to keep private health insurance. But I think the real power is in the day-to-day. Because that’s what your life is now. Days. One after the other.

So try this:

Close your eyes and picture a really good Tuesday, ten years from now. You’re healthy. You’re not working full-time. The urgent pace of midlife has eased. What does your morning look like? What gets you out of bed? Who do you talk to? What pulls your attention? How does the day move? When do you feel most you?

Because here’s the secret: most people overestimate how much they want freedom - and underestimate how much they still need structure, connection and purpose. We’re wired for momentum, in our Prime Time and even in retirement. We just want to be the ones choosing where we direct it.

For some people, a good day might include a coffee with a mate, a bushwalk, a bit of volunteering, an hour in the garden, and a late afternoon lie-down with a book. For others, it might be walking the dog in the morning then building something, mentoring someone, or helping care for grandkids. You don’t have to be productive - but it helps to feel useful.

Retirement isn’t a holiday. It’s a new kind of Tuesday. And the better we get at designing those, the better this whole phase of life turns out to be.

So, what does your good Tuesday look like?

Your turn: design your good Tuesday

Grab a pen, or open a blank note on your phone. Picture yourself ten years from now, on a regular Tuesday. You’re not working full-time. You’re in decent health. Life is yours to shape.

Now answer these:

1. What time do you wake up?
   Is it early and peaceful, or a slow, luxurious sleep-in?

2. What’s your morning rhythm?
   Coffee? Exercise? Reading? Walking the dog? What sets the tone?

3. Who do you spend time with today?
   Friends, family, partner, or no one at all?

4. What gives your day purpose?
   Is there something useful or meaningful you do today - paid, unpaid, creative, caregiving, community-based?

5. When do you feel most energised?
   What moment in the day gives you that sense of "this is what I love"?

6. What does rest look like?
   Is there a moment where you pause and take it all in? What gives you that grounded, content feeling?

7. What’s one small joy that would make the day feel complete?
   A good meal? A perfect playlist? That feeling after a swim? A text from your grandkid?

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A wild week (and a quick update)

It’s been a big one.

I kicked off Monday morning as a special guest on Life Matters for their Good Retirement series, chatting about “Living the high life on a low budget.” You can listen in [here]. Then it was onto ABC Melbourne radio that afternoon with Brigitte Duclos, unpacking Denmark’s decision to lift the retirement age and what that might mean for us.

Each night this week I’ve been in the recording studio, reading Prime Time aloud for the audiobook — five hours a night. My voice nearly gave up on me on the very last night … but it’s done. Tick!

And then on Wednesday: we went to print. Prime Time: 27 Lessons for the New Midlife is now officially on its way. It’ll be in stores on 30 July too.
You can pre-order a copy on [Amazon] or [Booktopia]—and if you go through Booktopia, I’ll be signing all their pre-orders in person before launch.

On Thursday, Amazon released a feature on Prime Time, Epic Retirement (and me!) that sent both books flying up the bestseller lists—and into the Movers and Shakers list too. That was a lovely surprise.

And I interviewed the incredible and entertaining Jean Kittson for the Prime Time podcast, talking about how to have the hard conversations with your ageing parents. She’s been doing it for years… so a wise and experienced guide.

In the background, I’ve also been working on not one but three secret projects I’ll be sharing soon. I’m terrible at keeping secrets… but trust me, you’re going to love what’s coming.

Next week, my big focus is our Epic Retirement Flagship Course. It kicks off on 28 August, and we already have over 100 people booked in. I’d love to get that to 200 before the week’s out — but when we reach 200, the Earlybird offer will end and the price will rise from $374 to $499. So get in and book your place if you want the discount.

If you’ve been thinking about joining the Spring Edition of the course, now’s the time. 👉 All the details are here. There’s a downloadable brochure and you can book your place here too.

Until next week, make it epic!
Bec

Got thoughts this week — send an email to bec@epciretirement.net. I read every one.

Cheers, Bec Wilson

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

Retiring without $1 million? Don’t worry, so is everyone else

Extract of article published in print in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times, WA Today on Sunday 7 June 2025.

For years people planning for retirement have been haunted by a single goal: reaching $1 million in super before they retire. Apparently, that’s what we’re all supposed to have neatly tucked away before we even think about retiring. A million bucks. In one account. By 65.

No pressure, right?

But new research from AustralianSuper has just blown a hole in that myth – and it’s about bloody time.

It shows 94 per cent of recent retirees didn’t retire with $1 million in super. Most didn’t even come close. And yet ... they retired and many of them are living in comfort. Without fanfare. Without financial collapse. Without eating two-minute noodles in a cardigan for the next 30 years.

Take Warren Morrison – he retired at 64 with $350,000 in super, and a plan. He’d figured out how much he’d need to spend to have a good life. Now he officiates weddings, runs trivia nights, and judges roller-skating competitions (as you do). His secret? Not being rich. Just being smart about the life he actually wanted.

So maybe the real question isn’t “how much do I need?” or “can I get to a million dollars in super before I retire?” Maybe it’s “what kind of life do I want?”

(READ ON… my articles are never paywalled for Aussies in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald. )

How to have the hard conversations with your parents with Jean Kittson

In this episode of Prime Time, I sit down with the incredible Jean Kittson AM — performer, writer, comedian, and author of the bestselling book We Need to Talk About Mum and Dad. Jean opens up about the decade she spent caring for her parents, Elaine and Roy, and the many lessons she learned along the way — about family, love, aged care, and what it really takes to help our parents through their final chapter.

We talk about the emotional weight of being part of the sandwich generation, the complexity of the aged care system, and the importance of early conversations — the hard ones that help everyone make better choices. Jean is generous, wise and deeply real about what it means to be a carer, and this conversation is one I think every midlifer should hear — whether you’re just starting to notice your parents slowing down, or you’re right in the thick of it.

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE OF THE PODCAST HERE:

• LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

• LISTEN ON SPOTIFY

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