Opinion
For most of us, superannuation has been easy to ignore. Money goes in, investments tick along, the balance grows. You glance at it occasionally, think “looks okay,” and get on with life. But something shifts the moment retirement stops being something far in the distance.
Suddenly, you’re not asking “how much have I got?” You’re asking something much harder: “Will this actually be enough to live on, and for how long?”
That’s the moment many Australians discover an uncomfortable truth: the fund that helped them accumulate money over 30 years may not be well equipped to help them use that money.
Saving for retirement and living on that money are genuinely different problems. One is about growth and investing and keeping fees low. The other is about converting a lump sum into a reliable income that lasts for potentially for two or three decades while navigating market swings, the age pension, health costs, and the sheer unpredictability of a long life.
Most of us have never asked our super fund a simple but important question: are you actually ready to help me with retirement?
Last year I worked with superannuation research firm Chant West to launch the Epic Retirement Tick, an annual assessment of how super funds are performing for pre-retirees and retirees. Together, we developed a robust set of criteria, evaluated Australia’s super funds against them and released the results publicly, then set about helping everyday Australians understand how to use those results.
The aim is to make it easier for people to answer that question for themselves. Last year’s inaugural assessment showed just how much work remains to be done. Out of about 46 Australian super funds, only six met the required standard.
The Tick also introduces something the sector has not always faced before: genuine consumer and market pressure. When the criteria are public and the results are visible, funds can no longer simply say retirement is important or run advertising campaigns claiming they “do retirement well” if they clearly don’t. They need to be able to demonstrate it.
Because too often I still see funds with weaker retirement offerings running campaigns and standing on podiums promoting themselves as leaders in retirement. If players in the industry want to earn that reputation, the answer isn’t more marketing or more lip service. It’s better services, tools and support for the members who are about to rely on their super for income.
People really do need and want help in the run-up to retirement.
Most Australians have no idea whether their super fund actually provides the services that will matter most once work stops.
They want help understanding how to turn their savings into a reliable income. They want guidance on how much they can draw down each year. They want tools that show how market movements might affect their income. And they want to understand how the age pension fits into the picture.
They may also want retirement-specific investment options designed for people who are no longer adding to their super but are now drawing from it, or lifetime income streams that secure their cost-of-living for a potentially long life.
They want access to advice, practical calculators and education to help them make decisions. And they want their applications lodged online, without wet signatures and processed efficiently. And once retirement actually arrives, the needs keep evolving.
People want to know they can change their payments easily. They want confidence their account is protected from cyber risks. They want to be able to pick up the phone and speak to someone when something important needs sorting out without waiting half an hour or longer on hold. In other words, retirement requires funds to step up their game.
Yet most Australians have no idea whether their super fund actually provides the services that will matter most once work stops.
This week we released the 2026 criteria for the Epic Retirement Tick more than six months before results will be finalised, giving funds plenty of time to get momentum on initiatives. The criteria have been expanded from 18 to 20 reflecting the growing expectations around retirement income strategies and support.
Some have been combined, new ones have been added, and the criteria now take in the recently released Treasury Best Practice Principles for Superannuation Retirement Income Solutions too.
They now examine retirement income and drawdown products, performance and fees, as well as the layers of advice, guidance and education available to members. They also look for support on drawdown strategies, age pension assistance, quality calculators and projection tools.
Service standards are also assessed, with new categories this year covering areas such as cybersecurity, the time it takes to process basic retirement transactions, digital service capability and complaint levels.
To receive the Tick, a super fund must meet at least 14 of the 20 criteria, up from 12 out of 18 in 2025, along with a new overarching requirement relating to regulatory compliance.
Importantly, this is not a ranking system and it does not declare winners. Funds either meet the standard or they don’t, and if they do, they’re awarded a tick. The goal is to set a benchmark for what meaningful retirement support actually looks like and teach people to use it when evaluating their fund pre-retirement.
And in just over six months since its release in October 2025, we are already seeing signs that we’re having an impact. Heads of retirement within super funds report their projects are gaining stronger executive backing.
There are early signs of members moving from lower-performing funds to those doing more for retirees. And across the industry, people are starting to talk about wanting their fund to be awarded the Tick.
That momentum comes at an important moment.
After decades focused almost entirely on accumulation, retirement is finally becoming a central conversation in the super system. Regulators are pushing harder on retirement income strategies.
Funds that want to be known for retirement are investing more in products and services. And consumers themselves are beginning to ask better questions about what happens when they stop working.
We’re helping focus the conversation on what can actually be measured and what Australians should reasonably expect from their super fund. Because while Australia’s super system has done an excellent job helping people accumulate retirement savings, the retirement phase itself is still evolving. Often, the services available to people entering retirement remain patchy and underwhelming.
Publishing the criteria publicly this week is an important part of the process. It allows consumers to see what strong retirement support actually looks like, and it allows funds to understand the expectations now being set for the industry and lift their game accordingly – knowing they’ve had plenty of warning.
Because retirement support shouldn’t be a well-marketed mystery. Australians have spent decades building their super. They deserve a system that supports them just as strongly when the time comes to use it.
The new criteria for the Epic Retirement Tick can be reviewed at www.epicretirement.net/epictick
Bec Wilson is author of the bestseller How to Have an Epic Retirement and the newly released Prime Time: 27 Lessons for the New Midlife. She writes a weekly newsletter at epicretirement.net and hosts the Prime Time podcast.
- Advice given in this article is general in nature and is not intended to influence readers’ decisions about investing or financial products. They should always seek their own professional advice that takes into account their own personal circumstances before making any financial decisions.
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Bec Wilson is the author of How To Have An Epic Retirement and writes a weekly newsletter for pre- and post-retirees at epicretirement.net.
