Financial security emerges as top factor influencing retirement: ABS
Most Australians are planning to retire between their 65th and 66th birthdays, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
It found that the average age workers aged 45 years and over intend to retire is at 65.4, only slightly lower than 65.5 in 2022-21.
"While the average age that people intend to retire has risen over time, it hasn't changed much in the last 10 years," said Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics, in a statement.
"This average has been between 65.0 years and 65.6 years for close to a decade, since 2014-15."
By gender, men still intend to retire slightly later than women, according to the report.
"But this gap is closing," Jarvis said. "In 2022-23, there was around half a year difference between men and women, compared to a year difference a decade ago, and a two-year difference around 10 years before that."
Meanwhile, the top factor influencing employees' decision to retire is financial security (36%).
This is followed by personal health or physical injuries (22%), and then by reaching the eligibility age for an age (or service) pension (14%).
These factors come as some individuals report not having enough personal income upon retirement.
"Over the past decade, the number of people who said they had no personal income has fallen from 25% in 2012-13 down to 12% in 2022-23," Jarvis said. "In particular, the percentage of women reporting no personal income has dropped considerably, down from 37% to 18%."
The percentage of women relying on their partner's income for meeting living costs at retirement has also declined to 31% in 2022-23. This is a drop of more than 10 percentage points from 44% in 2012-13, according to Jarvis.
Australia has no official designated retirement age for employees, but its pension age was recently increased to 67 years.
