Australia’s rebound in retirement confidence has proven to be short-lived, with new research suggesting last year’s improvement was driven more by buoyant investment markets and easing inflation than lasting gains in financial preparedness.
As cost-of-living pressures, market volatility and uncertainty over the global economic outlook returned in 2026, retiree confidence fell sharply while pre-retiree preparedness almost erased the previous year’s gains.
Brighter Super’s 2025-26 State of Retirement report found retiree confidence dropped to 47 per cent nationally from 60 per cent in 2025, while pre-retiree preparedness declined to 31 per cent from 38 per cent, leaving it just two percentage points above its 2024 level.
Brighter Super chief executive, Kate Farrar, said the findings demonstrated how quickly confidence could change when economic conditions deteriorated.
“This report reinforces how quickly sentiment can shift with changing economic conditions, and the need to focus on long-term preparedness rather than short-term confidence.”
She said the data indicated many Australians continued to assess their retirement readiness based on recent investment performance rather than long-term financial planning.
“The data suggests many Australians still judge their retirement readiness through the lens of recent market performance rather than long-term financial preparedness.”
While retirement confidence weakened across every state, Queensland continued to outperform the national average, recording retiree confidence of 50 per cent compared with 47 per cent nationally.
Pre-retiree preparedness in Queensland also remained ahead of the national figure at 33 per cent, despite falling six percentage points from 2025.
The report, which combines Investment Trends surveys conducted between 2024 and 2026, also highlighted the widening gap between Australians who prepare early for retirement and those who do not.
People who felt prepared typically began planning 6.6 years before retirement, had average super balances of $438,000 and were more likely to seek financial advice.
By comparison, those who felt unprepared had average balances of $177,000, started planning just 3.8 years before retirement and were more than twice as likely to expect an income gap once they stopped working.
Farrar said the findings showed the importance of encouraging Australians to begin planning well before retirement.
“It’s pleasing to see Queensland nudging just ahead of the national results, but there’s more work to be done. Our research shows that Australians who plan early are nearly twice as likely to enjoy a comfortable retirement.”
She added that closing the advice gap remained one of the superannuation sector’s biggest challenges.
“The difference between feeling prepared and unprepared for retirement is striking. People who start planning earlier are more likely to seek advice, build stronger super balances and retire with greater confidence. The challenge isn’t convincing members that retirement matters – it’s helping them take the first step sooner.”
Brighter Super members bucked the broader trend, with retiree confidence rising to 76 per cent in 2026 from 54 per cent a year earlier and 50 per cent in 2024. Pre-retiree preparedness among the fund’s members also remained steady at 38 per cent, contrasting with declines recorded nationally and across Queensland.
Investment Trends head of research, Julian Cappe, said the research showed Queensland and Brighter Super members continued to outperform broader benchmarks.
“The data also shows Queensland continues to outperform national averages, while Brighter Super members report stronger outcomes than both state and national benchmarks.”
