Recently, I was featured alongside other financial experts in an Australian Financial Review article on what Australians should be doing with their superannuation at each stage of life – “From your 20s to your 60s, the must-dos in each decade to build super”.
For many people, superannuation is just a line on a payslip – something they assume they’ll pay more attention to “later”. But then, at some point, there’s a shift, and it becomes one of the most important financial assets they’ll ever own.
Although one-third of Australians don’t know their balance, the piece reinforces that it’s never too late to take control.
What matters is not getting everything right at once, but starting where you are and staying engaged over time.
The decades matter – but behaviour matters more
The article breaks things down by decade, as different life stages bring different financial pressures.
In your 20s, for example, the focus is less about optimisation and more about awareness. As I shared: “Your 20s are a formative period. Super balances are typically small, but decisions made here often persist for decades due to inertia and default settings.”
By your 30s, life becomes more complex. Mortgages, young families and competing priorities mean super can easily fall down the list. It’s not that people don’t care – it’s that there are more immediate demands on their time and cashflow.
Then in your 40s, it’s time to turn up the dial. For many, this is the first decade where there’s both the capacity and the time to make a meaningful difference. As I noted, “This is the decade where intentionality matters. Treat super contributions as a discipline, not an afterthought.”
And by your 50s, the conversation becomes more concrete. Structure, tax efficiency and timing start to matter more than broad investment positioning. One of the key considerations here is whether contributions can be made across a couple to manage tax thresholds more effectively.
In your 60s, the risk is often moving too far, too fast into defensive assets. Shifting everything to cash can increase the risk of running out of money over the long term. The focus should remain on understanding your investment profile and ensuring it aligns with the life you want to fund.
What I see in practice
While the decade-by-decade approach is helpful, what I see with clients is that outcomes are rarely driven by one moment or one decision – they’re shaped by patterns over time.
The people who tend to be in a stronger position later in life aren’t necessarily the ones who got everything right early. They’re the ones who stayed engaged.
They made small adjustments when it made sense. They avoided unnecessary complexity. And importantly, they didn’t leave things untouched for long periods of time.
That’s where thoughtful, strategic financial advice plays a role.
Not in making constant changes, but in creating a level of clarity and accountability – ensuring decisions are revisited, refined and aligned with what’s happening in someone’s life at the time.
Because with super, doing nothing is often the biggest cost.
How superannuation fits into the bigger picture
At Stephan Independent Advisory, super is rarely a standalone conversation.
It sits alongside everything else our clients are trying to balance – managing their family business, supporting children, estate planning and safeguarding their own future.
What we’re often helping people do is not just optimise super, but understand how it fits into a much broader system – and what level of risk is appropriate for their life.
If this is a topic that resonates, you can explore more in my articles Preparing for Retirement, Having Confidence in Retirement and Five Lessons to Aid A Healthy Succession.
You might also take inspiration from my It’s Never About Money podcast, including the episodes on Building a Legacy of Generosity and Money, Family and Fairness: Building Legacies that Last.
If you’re in the stage of life where super is becoming a significant asset – and you want to integrate it into a broader, well-structured plan – we can help. Book a free clarity call with me today.
Read the full article here: From your 20s to your 60s, the must-dos in each decade to build super.
