I’ve been speaking with Bec Wilson , who says she provides Edutainment, I like the sound of it. She’s speaking at the Pension UK October Conference. That will be knock-out

She wants Australians who are a little more involved with their retirement planning, to work out whether their Epic Retirement gets a Tick, here’s what it’s all about

(To my mind the Epic Retirement Tick is a VFM tick…). This is her message to fellow Australians but much of that message could be translated to UK talk – we need our own Bec Wilson.

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The rest of this blog is Bec Wilson

Here’s why it matters.

Most Australians spend 30 or 40 years building their super. And while funds have become pretty good — and pretty similar — at the accumulation phase, almost no one knows if their fund is actually ready to support them in retirement. Not just with returns, but with the things that really matter when the pay stops: learning how money works in retirement, setting up a pension account, deciding how much to draw down, weighing up whether you need an income-for-life product, and navigating all the little transitions along the way.

Even the basics count. Opening an account quickly, paying your pension on time, making sure it’s secure with multi-factor authentication — these are the things that should be standard, but too often aren’t.

The truth is, the system doesn’t make it easy for everyday people to know which funds are doing well at retirement, and which are not making it their highest priority. And I don’t want to share opinions here — I want to work in facts (you know that’s always my way). The fact is, the regulator has been pointing out for years that funds are too slow at the move to suitable products and services for the retirement phase. Just last week, APRA said again that some funds are doing better than others, but overall progress is patchy.

And here’s my view: many funds aren’t in a hurry to improve, because they don’t think consumers will notice. But they might hurry things up if you start looking and asking questions with clarity about what to look for.

I don’t want to wait anymore while pre-retirees and retirees miss out. I want to celebrate the funds working hardest for their retirees, and provide helpful criteria so the not-so-good can either get better, or you can understand their points of weakness.

So, I’ve partnered with Chant West to create a clear, independent set of 18 criteria that define what “retirement ready” really means. These criteria cover everything — investments, products, drawdown guidance, advice, calculators, education, engagement, and service. Chant West will do the assessment, and I’ll help you understand how to use it.

If a fund meets at least 12 of the 18 criteria, they’ll be eligible for the Epic Retirement Tick. And I suspect only a handful of funds will meet the 12 criteria on the first go — but we’re going to encourage, support and show them the way to get there too (not name and shame those who don’t). And then we’ll empower you with choice and insight! And the only way we get there is by talking about the criteria consistently, and expecting action.

The Tick will only drive real change if people like you care about it. If you read the criteria, sign up for the report, and start asking your fund when/if they plan to step up. If you’re willing to look closely at whether your fund is truly prioritising people heading into retirement now and into the future.

That’s what will mobilise action. I’m sure of it. All of a sudden, funds will start pushing those projects forward — because they’ll know you’re watching, you understand your needs, and you know what good looks like now.

The first report will be released on 2 October 2025, but the criteria are public from this weekend — and you can see them on my website now. You can also sign up to get the report when it drops (free).

Let’s raise the bar on superannuation fund services together. This is the power of people — and together I suspect we can make change happen.

BIO

Bec Wilson is a leading voice on midlife, modern ageing, and the modern retirement – in Australia and now internationally. She is the bestselling author of How to Have an Epic Retirement – Australia’s #1 retirement book in 2023, 2024, and so far in 2025 – and founder of the Epic Retirement Institute, a hub for practical retirement education, insights, and tools.

Her latest book, Prime Time: 27 Lessons for the New Midlife, debuted at #4 on the overall Australian non-fiction bestseller list in its first week and #19 among all books. “Prime Time” is the stage of life from around 47 to 70, when you have more freedom, choice, and opportunity than ever before – and her work is about helping people make the most of it, both financially and purposefully.

Her ideas are now reaching UK audiences, with the British edition of How to Have an Epic Retirement – a deeply localised retirement guidebook based on the framework in her super-bestseller – to be published by Hachette UK in December 2025.

Bec hosts the Prime Time podcast – one of Australia’s top 200 podcasts – produced by 9Podcasts and writes a weekly newsletter at epicretirement.net and international.epicretirement.net for a global community of nearly 200,000 mid-lifers and retirees.

Through the Epic Retirement Institute, she delivers her flagship six-week synchronous course How to Have an Epic Retirement and works with organisations and superannuation funds to deliver keynotes and run impactful retirement education programmes.