Why January Is The Best Time To Review Your Super & Retirement Plan
For many Australians in their 50s and early 60s, retirement planning can feel like a foggy horizon.. something you know matters, but not quite sure how to approach. You are not alone. Surveys consistently show that a significant number of pre-retirees feel anxious about whether their retirement savings will be enough and how to make their super work for them (Aware Super, 2025).
That is one of the many reasons why we believe that January offers a unique strategic moment in the financial calendar because the conditions that support thoughtful planning are often absent later in the year.
In this article, we explore why beginning your super and retirement planning in January can give you clarity and confidence as you build the next chapter of your life.
Australians feel unprepared
Research shows a clear link between early engagement with retirement planning and emotional comfort in later life. According to the Brighter Super & Investment Trends 2025 Retirement Income Report, Australians who start planning early report nearly double the likelihood of feeling comfortable in retirement compared with those who delay planning into their 60s (Brighter Super, 2025).
Yet, confidence remains low overall. Only around 38% of Australians report feeling prepared for retirement, highlighting widespread uncertainty and a gap between expectations and preparedness (Brighter Super, 2025). Starting discussions and planning early does more than increase savings; it reduces anxiety, supports resilience and helps align retirement with real lifestyle goals.
Why January matters
1. January reduces decision fatigue and cognitive load
Most people enter the new year with a bit more mental space with fewer workplace deadlines, less noise, and a break from the financial year rush. Research in behavioural finance shows that cognitive capacity improves when we are less overloaded, which leads to better decisions on complex topics such as retirement modelling and tax strategy. And when people plan with clearer minds early in the year, they tend to act with greater perspective and purpose.
2. January preserves optionality before the year accelerates
In later months, planning can feel rushed or reactive, squeezed into EOFY time pressures, competing goals, or unexpected life events. Planning in January gives you room to:
Review your contributions and preservation ages.
Think through retirement timing.
Model income scenarios with time to iterate and adjust.
This early runway helps ensure that decisions are driven by long-term intentions, not short-term urgency.
3. Super is increasingly central to retirement outcomes in Australia
Australia’s superannuation system is one of the largest in the world, with more than $4 trillion in assets and projected to grow further as the backbone of retirement income.
Yet super alone does not automatically translate to confidence. A 2024 Rethinking Retirement Report found that many Australians overestimate the savings they need, and those who have never received financial advice estimate they require nearly $2 million, far higher than advised Australians (Colonial First State, 2024).
What a super and retirement review looks like with professional guidance
In practice, this means working with an expert financial adviser to help you:
Understand how your super is currently invested and whether that approach aligns with your risk tolerance, timeframe and retirement goals.
See how your super, savings and any other assets work together.
Clarify realistic retirement timing, income needs and lifestyle expectations, based on how you want the years ahead to look.
Navigate how government rules, including preservation age and Age Pension settings, interact with your personal timeline.
As advisers, our role is to connect these moving parts, identify gaps or misalignment, and translate complexity into a clear, practical strategy. If you would like to seek our professional guidance, we are offering free, no-obligation consultations throughout January. These sessions are designed to help you frame your super and retirement with clarity, explore your options and identify where tailored professional advice could help you build a more structured, confident plan.
Book a free consultation and start the year with a clearer view of your financial future.
References
Aware Super (2025). State of Retirement Report. https://aware.com.au/member/about-us/newsroom/march-2025/state-of-retirement-report
Brighter Super (2025). Brighter Super & Investment Trends 2025 Retirement Income Report. https://www.brightersuper.com.au/retirement/retirement-income-report
Colonial First State (2024). The Rethinking Retirement Report 2024. https://www.cfs.com.au/content/dam/cfs-winged/documents/about-us/media-release/the-rethinking-retirement-report.pdf
