What to check before combining retirement income with part-time work or a business

General information only. This article does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs, and it is not personal financial, tax or legal advice. Official sources were checked on 20 October 2026. Rules, rates and thresholds change, so confirm current details before you act.

Moneysmart's retirement planning guidance notes that retirement does not always mean stopping work entirely. People cut back to part-time or casual work, consult or freelance, or earn business income. Each of those choices can bring in money, and each can interact with tax, super and government support in different ways.

This guide lists what to check before you combine work with retirement income. It does not suggest how much to work or whether to start a business. It gives you the checks, the official pages that explain them and the questions to take to the people who can confirm your own position.

Start by describing the work

The checks differ depending on how the work is arranged. Write down which of these describes your plan:

Employee, part-time or casual. An employer pays you and handles the paperwork.
Contractor or consultant. You invoice clients and are responsible for your own tax and super arrangements.
Small business. You sell products or services under your own name or business structure.
Occasional or hobby income. Irregular earnings from an activity you enjoy.

Then note the expected hours, the expected earnings and how steady they are. A rough range is more honest than a single number, so mark every figure as an estimate until you have real invoices or payslips.

Check cash flow first

Work income can be irregular, especially in the first year of a business or a new contract. Before you rely on it, check:

Whether your essential spending is covered without it, or whether you are counting on it.
How you would manage a slow month. Business income can arrive late, and start-up costs can come before earnings.
What the work costs you: equipment, insurance, travel, software, registration fees, accounting help.
What tax you will owe on the earnings, and when you will need to pay it.

Moneysmart's retirement plan guide suggests thinking about what other income, such as work or business income, you will keep in retirement. Treat it as one source in the overall picture, with the same dated records as the others.

Check tax

Employee income

If you work as an employee, your employer usually reports your pay and any tax withheld, and you declare the income in your tax return. Ask your employer how tax will be withheld, and check whether the amount withheld suits your overall income once you add other sources.

Self-employment and business income

The ATO says sole traders must lodge a tax return, even if their income is below the tax-free threshold, and report their business income and any deductions they can claim as individuals. See the ATO's page on the income tax return for businesses. Its page on business structures says sole traders report all their income in their individual tax return, with no separate business tax return, and pay tax at their individual rate.

Questions to confirm with the ATO or a registered tax professional:

Is my activity a business or a hobby for tax purposes? The ATO explains how to work out whether you are in business, and business.gov.au sets out the difference between a business and a hobby, including tax, insurance and legal obligations.
Do I need an ABN, and do I need to register for GST? The ATO says you must register for GST when your GST turnover is $75,000 or more. See registering for GST and confirm how the threshold applies to you.
Which expenses can I claim, and what records do I need to keep?
How will my work income combine with income from super or other sources in my tax return?

Check super

Work can affect super in two ways: whether you can access your balance while you work, and whether more money goes into it.

Accessing super while working

The ATO's page on when you can withdraw your super lists the conditions of release. The ones most relevant to people who keep working include:

Turning 65, which the ATO says allows withdrawal even if you are still working.
Reaching your preservation age, continuing to work and starting a transition to retirement income stream. Moneysmart explains how this works on its transition to retirement page. It notes that starting a transition to retirement pension may affect your or your partner's government benefits.
Reaching your preservation age and retiring.

The last item deserves care if you plan to keep working. The ATO says retirement means you have ceased paid employment under specific age conditions, and that your fund must be satisfied you have no intention of becoming employed again. Moneysmart's page on what happens to your super when you retire describes other situations that apply from age 60, including stopping work for an employer even if you continue working elsewhere, and permanent retirement from the workforce, which it says usually means you do not plan to work more than 10 hours a week in a paid job. The conditions turn on your date of birth and circumstances, so ask your fund how it would treat your specific plan before you rely on any of them. Your fund decides whether a condition has been met.

Contributions and insurance

If you work as an employee, ask your employer whether super contributions will be paid and into which account.
If you work for yourself, ask the ATO or a registered tax professional how super contributions apply to your situation.
Ask your fund what happens to insurance cover if contributions change or stop. Moneysmart notes that cover through super may change or end when you stop work or reach a certain age.

Check government support

The main official guidance on work and the Age Pension comes from Services Australia, and it applies to people at Age Pension age, which Services Australia gives as 67 or older. If you are younger, other payments and rules may apply, and Services Australia's free Financial Information Service can explain how your finances may affect eligibility.

If you receive or expect to receive the Age Pension

Income is assessed. The income test assesses your and your partner's income from all sources. If you are over the free area, your pension reduces, and Services Australia pays $0 for a fortnight in which income goes over the cut-off point.
You must report work. Services Australia says you must tell it if you or your partner start paid work and report employment income, even if it is under the cut-off point. If you do not, you may be paid too much and have a debt to repay. See working while you're getting Age Pension.
The Work Bonus. Services Australia says the Work Bonus reduces the amount of eligible employment income counted in the income test. To get it, you must be of Age Pension age and receive one of the listed payments, and people on the transitional rate of pension are not eligible.
Suspension. If your income goes over the cut-off point for more than 12 fortnights in a row, Services Australia says it will suspend your Age Pension for up to 2 years in some situations, and you can ask to have it restored if your income falls or you stop working. Eligibility for suspension has conditions, so read the page before relying on it.
Business and other income. Because the test counts income from all sources, ask Services Australia how your type of work and any business income would be assessed, including how it treats self-employment.

A hypothetical example

A hypothetical person aged 68 receives a part Age Pension and is offered a few days of consulting each month. Before accepting, they list their questions. How will Services Australia count this income, and will the Work Bonus apply to them? Do they need an ABN, and how will the earnings appear in their tax return? Do they need to tell Services Australia before the first payment? They take those questions to Services Australia's Financial Information Service and a registered tax professional, and they record the answers with the date. The example is invented. It shows a method: the work decision and the paperwork questions are separated, and each question goes to the body that can answer it.

A checklist to complete before you start

Describe the work: type, hours, expected earnings, and which figures are estimates.
List the costs of working and the cash you need on hand for slow periods.
Confirm the tax treatment with the ATO or a registered tax professional, including ABN and GST questions where relevant.
Ask your super fund how your work plans interact with access conditions and insurance.
Ask Services Australia how your work income would be assessed and what you would need to report.
Keep records of income, expenses and conversations from the start.
Decide which questions need a licensed financial adviser, and check the adviser on ASIC's Financial Advisers Register.

Official sources used

General information only. This article does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs, and it is not personal financial advice. Official sources were checked on 21 October 2026. Rules and thresholds change, so confirm current details with the ATO, Services Australia or a licensed financial adviser before you act.