Australians looking for a perfect retirement should start planning as early as possible.

While many Australians remain confused on the actual value of the golden sum they will need to reach before stopping work for good, the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees’ chief executive officer Tom Garcia believes there is “no ideal balance.”

“A vast majority of people do not have the capacity in any way of saving $1 million,’’ Mr Garcia said.

“People need to get a better understanding of what capacity they can get to, how that works with the aged pension and how that works with other assets.

“There’s a big difference if you are married or if you are single, there’s a big difference if you own your home or if you don’t own your home.”

The Ready to Retire study, commissioned by News Corp Australia in partnership with Industry SuperFunds, found people who expect to have $500,000 or more at retirement are most likely to think they will have no financial worries (33 per cent).

Those who end up with less than $200,000 in super believe they will have to adjust their lifestyle to afford their retirement (30 per cent).

According to the research, the average Australian worker has about $144,000 in their super account but expects to have around $350,000 when they retire.

Mr Garcia said ultimately Australians should aim to enter retirement without carrying any debt because it will be difficult to pay it off without earning an income.

Women are also vulnerable to having lower super balances which has been blamed on earning less than men and taking time out of the workforce to raise a family.

Figures from super fund Hesta whose main member base is health and community service workers, showed 85 per cent of their members are women and the average account balance is $45,000.

The fund’s chief investment officer, Robert Fowler, said the super system had a long way to progress for women.

“The “super gap” isn’t because of choices they make but it’s caused by the gender pay gap that sees women earning less than their male counterparts and unpaid time out of the workforce, typically taken to care for others or raise children,’’ he said.

Even an extra $20 a week can make a huge difference to your retirement.Source:Supplied

He said it was never too late to try and improve your financial future and said, “even finding an extra $20 per week can make a huge difference.”

Care Super chief executive officer Julie Lander said rolling multiple super accounts into one is a good place to help reduce the fees paid on your retirement savings.

“You could be paying multiple sets of fees and multiple sets of insurance premiums,’’ she said.

“It’s better to manage your super if it’s all in one place and it’s easy to do it, mostly now you can ring the fund you want to consolidate everything into and they will do it for you.”

The Australian Taxation Office has released its latest data on lost and unclaimed super, revealing a whopping $11.7 billion sitting in lost superannuation accounts that are waiting to be claimed back.

Mr Garcia said tipping extra in whenever you can makes a big difference at the end when you do retire.

“You should start putting a little more in, once a week, once a month, just start a regular savings scheme into your super,’’ he said.

Someone earning about $75,000 a year and receiving the super guarantee of 9.5 per cent (about $7125) will be able to salary sacrifice about $22,875 if under 50 or $27,875 if over 50.

However from July 1, these maximum allowable salary sacrifice amounts will drop to $17,875 across all age groups.

Fees on super accounts are almost important to monitor as they can eat away at your savings if you are paying too much.

Many industry experts say paying no more than 1 per cent in fees is a good guide to follow.

Members are also encouraged to phone up their fund and ask questions and see if there are adjustments that can be made that will lead to a larger balance at retirement.

Businesswoman Joanne Painter says changes to the super system led her, and husband Christopher Dodds, to pay extra attention to their retirement savings.

Joanne Painter and Chris Dodds are paying close attention to their super. Picture: Alex Coppel.Source:News Corp Australia

With school fees for their two teenage children almost behind them, Mrs Painter, 51, said the pair are homing in on boosting their super balance.

“Super has become a much bigger consideration as we’ve approached our 50s, whereas maybe 10 years ago it wasn’t a significant plan in consideration,’’ she said.

The pair have a diversified portfolio including shares and land as well as their super savings stashed away.

Mrs Painter said the pair are looking to scale back to working part-time before reaching 60 and also downsizing their family home.

They woudl like to buy a country retreat and an inner-city apartment so they can still run their business.

Mrs Painter said there is no golden super balance to achieve but they aim to have about $600,000 to $700,000 each once they retire.

“We are adamant we don’t want to be having any debt into retirement and as soon as our children are independent the focus will shift,’’ she said.

“We have had private school fees, then the focus will shift to reducing debt, including the mortgage and sticking everything we can into super.”

You can tip extra into your super fund by salary sacrificing.Source:Supplied

FATTEN YOUR SUPER

— Consolidate your accounts. Visit superguru.com.au.

— Seek professional advice including contacting your fund or seeing a financial adviser.

— Tip extra into your fund by using salary sacrificing.

— Check the fees you are paying on your fund.

— From July 1, concessional caps in the 2017-18 year are $25,000.

— Non-concessional caps (contributions where no income tax deduction) in the 2017-18 are $100,000 but conditions apply.

Originally published as How much you need to retire well