A 5-Year Strategy Guide for 2025–26
Two couples can retire with the same super balance and experience very different long-term outcomes.
The difference is rarely investment performance.
It is almost always structure.
If you are within five years of retirement, the way your super is positioned today can shape how tax-efficient, flexible and sustainable your income will be for the next 20 to 30 years.
Once retirement begins, many structural levers narrow. The final working years are often your last genuine opportunity to design your retirement deliberately — rather than reactively.
Why the 5 Years Before Retirement Matter
Retirement is not a single event. It is a transition.
During your final working years, you typically still have:
- Access to concessional and non-concessional contribution strategies
- Flexibility to rebalance super between spouses
- The ability to time pension commencement strategically
- Scope to manage Total Super Balance (TSB) thresholds
- Opportunity to reshape taxable versus tax-free components
- Employment income to support staged decisions
After retirement, contribution flexibility reduces. Some thresholds become binding. Uneven balance splits can become difficult to fix. Certain decisions effectively become one-way.
That is why pre-retirement super planning is so important. You still have time, flexibility and options.
Think in Household Terms — Not Individual Accounts
For couples, superannuation is best viewed as one household pool structured across two individuals.
From 1 July 2025, the general Transfer Balance Cap (TBC) is $2.0 million per person (subject to personal cap history). In practical terms, many couples may ultimately have up to $4.0 million combined in pension phase over time — if structured properly.
But that only works if balances are positioned correctly before retirement.
Equalising Super Before Retirement
Spouse equalisation is one of the most effective pre-retirement strategies.
Equalisation means gradually improving the balance split between spouses in the years leading up to retirement. It does not need to be perfect. Even partial equalisation can significantly reduce long-term accumulation exposure.
- Directing salary sacrifice or deductible contributions to the lower-balance spouse
- Using contribution splitting where available
- Making non-concessional contributions strategically
- Sequencing downsizer contributions carefully
Worked Example: Uneven Balances and a 5-Year Age Gap
Assume:
• Older spouse: age 63, super balance $2.8 million
• Younger spouse: age 58, super balance $1.1 million
• Combined super: $3.9 million
• Transfer Balance Cap: $2.0 million each
• Accumulation earnings tax: 15%
If the older spouse retires first and starts a pension with $2.0 million, $800,000 remains in accumulation long-term.
| Return | Annual Earnings on $800k | Annual Tax (15%) | 15-Year Direct Tax | 15-Year Compounded Drag* |
| 5% | $40,000 | $6,000 | $90,000 | ~$129,000 |
| 7% | $56,000 | $8,400 | $126,000 | ~$219,000 |
| 9% | $72,000 | $10,800 | $162,000 | ~$335,000 |
*Compounded drag illustrates what those annual tax payments could have grown to if they had remained invested at the same return. It is not a forecast.
The Real Objective
For higher-balance households, retirement planning is rarely about chasing an extra 0.5% return.
It is about reducing unnecessary tax drag, preserving flexibility, using both spouses’ caps efficiently, and sequencing decisions correctly.
A Deliberate Approach
If your combined super balance is material and retirement is within five years, it is worth asking:
• Are we using both caps efficiently?
• Is our balance split helping or hurting us long-term?
• Are we about to cross a TSB threshold that reduces flexibility?
• Are we sequencing pension commencement properly?
At EPG Wealth, we work with pre-retirees and self-funded retirees to design staged, practical strategies that align contribution planning, balance structure, pension timing and estate considerations into one coordinated plan.
If you would like clarity around whether your current super structure is optimised — and what adjustments may still be available before retirement — click here to organise a complimentary 20-minute phone call with an EPG Wealth adviser.
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Disclaimer: This information is general in nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Seek personal advice before acting.