Member retirement stories

Get the retirement you’ve earned

Making decisions about this big moment in your life is a lot. We get it. 

Hear how some of our members have transitioned into retirement, and how we can help you get set up for retirement^.#

Are you thinking about retiring early?

With a hectic shift-work roster as a police dispatcher, and feeling the extra grind during Covid times, Alain wanted to retire. However, he thought he’d still have to work for another five years to get there. Attending an Aware Super retirement seminar and a look at the figures turned his dream into a reality.

Here’s Alain’s story:

I didn’t expect retirement to happen as soon as it did. I’ve just transitioned to retirement at 62. I was thinking it was more likely to be happening at 67. My partner was an aged care nurse and I was a police dispatcher for 22 years. After the experience of working during Covid we wanted something different. So I was like, well, let me have a look and see. Let me have a look at the figures and work out if we can actually afford to do it. I guess I expected to have a little bit more saved before retiring. Another five years in the workplace would have given me some more money. I wish I had known to invest more into my superannuation when I was much younger. I always kept an eye on my super, but I didn’t always salary sacrifice.

But having said that, we’re not destitute, and we’ve certainly got plenty of superannuation to live off. The idea I had for retirement is pretty much what we’ve got. We knew we’d relocate out of Sydney, but we weren’t really sure where to. We knew it would be a coastal location with lots of silence around. We decided on regional Queensland. The winter in Queensland is glorious. It’s 25 degrees here. And we’ve been driving around this morning in the sunshine. I think the best guidance we got was from an Aware Super retirement seminar we went to. It just opened our eyes to income streams and transition to retirement.

The one thing I’d say to other people who are thinking about retiring is preparation. Do your budget. Know what you’ve got.

Feeling worried about retirement?

Lesley did all the right things. She worked hard and had a long and successful career. Yet, not knowing how retirement might look still caused concern. A financial planner can guide you now – and in retirement.

Here’s how Lesley embraced her new retirement lifestyle:

Ten years ago, retirement actually terrified me because I’ve been working since I left school. I’m 70 now and I retired at 63. I really loved my job. I really did. I enjoyed it. But I can truly say I have not missed one second of it. And I’ve still got friends in that workplace that I catch up with. But I have not missed work which was the biggest surprise of all. My mum retired in the era where she only had the Age Pension, so at least I had superannuation. I was a bit worried about if I would have enough money to live on. Honestly when it comes to superannuation I still don’t get it all. I log in every couple of days to check my balance but other than that I rely on my financial adviser to guide me through.

Before retiring I was on that treadmill where I had to get up, go to work, fight the traffic, etc. Now I get up and I go down to the gym five mornings a week, and then I have a good social life. We have a coffee afterwards and things like that. I actually hoped to have travelled a lot more than I have been able to but my plans were put on hold. Mind you, I’m picking up on that now and doing a lot more travel. During that time I decided to put my townhouse on the market and move into an apartment. So I’ve sort of turned the negative that I had into a positive. While I didn’t get to travel, I certainly got to move to a place that I’m very happy living in.

Unsure what the day-to-day will look like?

Wondering what you’ll do in retirement? Your day-to-day activities could be quite different to the norm. Brad retired early because of his physical work. But putting his feet up and calling it a day didn’t feel right either. 

Here’s how Brad found the balance he was looking for in retirement:

I worked in horticulture until I was 25 and then joined the police. I retired earlier than I wanted to at 58. I was still operational, so from a physical point of view, it was getting harder. When I retired, I went back to horticulture and picked up a job in a garden centre. I enjoy the social aspect of work. I work with a lot of young people, which keeps you in a decent mental state. When I look at people who retired around the same time as me, especially police officers, many seem to struggle. Their jobs were a big part of who they were. Now, most of my friends aren’t from the police. I have a new social circle.

Think that financial advice is too expensive?

Approaching retirement, Leanne decided to get financial advice to help navigate her way towards (and in) retirement. And she’s never looked back.

I had a long career in education. I retired at 64 and this is my second year of retirement. I actually anticipated I’d work longer but the pressures of the job and my mother passing away meant I wanted to be around for my dad. I’ve learned a lot about the mental and emotional aspect of retirement. Sometimes I question whether I should’ve kept going. I considered looking at something completely different – like a part-time retail job, but I just wasn’t prepared to commit to set days.

But then I changed my mind and thought if we can manage without the money, then just get up and enjoy every day.

The one thing I’d say to people thinking about retirement is to get financial advice. It’s certainly been the best thing we’ve done. We started doing that eight years ago. The chap we see is brilliant. He does a lot of work for teachers. You know, some people say, “Oh, I can look into it myself.” But friends I know who are trying to navigate through Centrelink and do all those things on their own - it’s hard. So I’m glad we had, and still have, our financial adviser working for us behind the scenes. Emotionally, I feel better that I’m here at home with my husband, as he has some health concerns. We’ve been married for a long time and we get on very well. So we like to go out for walks together and go out for coffee. It’s okay to relax and enjoy life. You don’t have to keep pushing and pushing.

Want to explore part-time work?

Your working career doesn’t necessarily end with a flick of a switch. Lesley took it a bit more gradually, transitioning to retirement from full-time work. Your working life may still have a few curves to navigate, so it’s always good advice to have a plan B – and plan C too.

Here’s how Gail reached her retirement:

I retired at 67. I had cut my working days down to three days a week. I thought maybe I would work part time until I was about 70. But then there were some drastic changes at my workplace. And so while it did end rather suddenly, I have no regrets. I’ve seen a few friends take the plunge from working full-time to retiring. I think that easing into it is a better option. Ten years ago, I envisaged that I’d spend time with my grandchildren, catching up with friends. That sort of thing. And I guess it’s pretty much like that. One thing I wish I’d known before I retired is that we should’ve been adding to our super to give us a more comfortable retirement. But having said that, we’re not struggling.

The best thing about my retirement is that I’ve got good health and three beautiful grandchildren that I get to spend lots of time with. I thought things would slow down a bit, but I think it’s gotten busier, and I wonder how I actually had time to work.