December 17, 2009
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Financial security drives retirement timing expectations: ABS
The most common factor influencing when people intend to retire is financial security, according to
figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
In 2008-09, 3.4 million people in the labour force (aged 45 years and over) intended to retire at
some time in the future. Of these, 39% said the main influence on when to retire was financial
security. Personal health or physical ability was another common influence on retirement decisions
(23%), along with becoming eligible for a pension (11%).
Just over half (53%) of people (aged 45 years and over) currently in the labour force who intend to
retire expected their superannuation to be their main source of income at retirement, while a further
27% expected a government pension or allowance to be their main source of income, and 7% did
not know what it would be.
Coinciding with the prevalence of superannuation as the expected main source of income at
retirement, 94% of people (aged 45 years and over) intending to retire indicated that they had
contributed to a superannuation scheme at some time, compared to half (56%) of those already
retired.
Further details can be found in Retirement and Retirement Intentions, Australia, July 2008 to June
2009 (cat. no. 6238.0), available free from the ABS website www.abs.gov.au
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When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must
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