clovaSuper
How Much Super Should You Have at Your Age?
There's no right amount for your age. In 2023–24, the middle super balance for 18 to 24 year olds was about $6,000, and about $21,000 for 25 to 29 year olds. In your 20s, what matters more is that your employer's contributions arrive, you have one account and its fees and insurance suit you.
By MarnixPublished Sources
Someone online says you should have $50,000 in super by 30. You open your fund's app, find a number a long way short of that and wonder whether you've already fallen behind.
The short answer is probably not. Most people in their 20s have much less super than those online targets suggest, and the number itself tells you less than a few simple checks do.
What a typical balance looks like in your 20s
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) publishes the median super balance for each age group: the balance in the middle, with half of people above it and half below. It's a fairer comparison than the average, which a smaller number of large balances pull up.
Median balances, ATO, 2023–24.
So in the early 20s, the middle balance is in the thousands, not tens of thousands. Balances climb through the late 20s and 30s, as contributions build up over more years of work and the earlier ones keep growing.
Why your balance might look different
A balance reflects your working life so far, so it can sit well above or below the middle for ordinary reasons. Years spent studying, part-time or casual hours, time off work and a lower-paid first job all mean smaller contributions. For workers under 18, employer super generally requires more than 30 hours of work in a week. Our guide to average salaries explains why early-career pay often sits below the headline figure.
Other things take money out. Each account you have charges its own fees, and insurance through super is paid from your balance. Your fund also invests the money, so the balance rises and falls with markets from year to year.
What one year of work adds
Jordan is made up. He's 24 and earns $60,000 a year plus super, so his employer pays 12% of his earnings on top, into his fund, each payday. Before it's invested, the fund takes a 15% contributions tax from those payments.
12% employer super, made-up example, before fees, insurance and returns.
That one year puts about as much into Jordan's account as the median balance for 18 to 24 year olds. Fees, insurance and investment returns change what's there by the end of the year, and the next year's contributions start to earn returns of their own. That's compounding, and it's why early contributions have the longest time to grow.
To see where your own balance could go, the Moneysmart superannuation calculator estimates it at retirement from your age, income and fees.
Checks that matter more than the number
A yearly check can show missing contributions and unnecessary fees. Moneysmart's guide to checking your super lists these and a couple more.
Check the contributions arrive
Compare your payslips with the payments in your fund's transaction history. Our guide to super in your first job explains when payments are due and what to do if one is missing.
Bring your accounts together
More than one account usually means more than one set of fees. You can find every account in your name through myGov, and our guide to finding lost super explains combining them once you've checked what each one includes.
Look at fees and insurance
Check what you pay each year and whether you have insurance through your fund. Cover generally doesn't start automatically while you're under 25, unless you opt in, so it's worth knowing either way.
Make sure your fund has your tax file number
Without it, your fund may take extra tax from your contributions and can't accept some government payments, such as the low income super tax offset.
Saving for now and for later
Adding your own money to super is optional. It can grow a balance, but that money is locked away until retirement, while rent, bills and emergencies need money you can reach now. A good place to start is savings you can use, such as an emergency fund, before looking at extra super. If an offer counts super inside a package, our guide to reading a job offer shows how to separate it from your cash pay.
Clova is a budgeting app that gives each pay a plan, including a savings goal for money you can reach long before retirement.
Super does its job quietly for decades. In your 20s, making sure the money arrives and isn't leaking into extra fees is the part that's yours to look after.
A note from us
Comparing balances is easy to do and hard to act on. We are building Clova for the money you live on now, while super keeps growing in the background.