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There's a stretch of time, usually somewhere between two and five years out from retirement, where things start to feel different. The end of your working life stops being an abstract concept and starts showing up on the calendar. Conversations with your partner shift. You start eyeing off long-service leave a little more seriously. And quietly, in the background, a question begins to nag - am I actually ready for this?

The truth is the years immediately before retirement matter far more than most people realise. Decisions made (or not made) in this window tend to echo through the next two or three decades. So rather than leaving it all to "future you", here's where your attention is best spent right now.

Flip the question from "how much" to "how much per year"

Most pre-retirees can rattle off their super balance to the nearest thousand. Far fewer can tell you what their actual yearly retirement income will look like - and that's the number that really matters.

A big balance doesn't pay the power bill. A reliable, sustainable income does.

Start by working backwards. What does your ideal year of retirement actually cost? Think beyond groceries and bills - include the holidays, the grandkids' birthdays, the new car every eight years, the private health cover, the home maintenance that always pops up. Then look at how each of those years will be funded: drawdowns from super, returns from investments outside super, perhaps part-time work for a season, and eventually, possibly the Age Pension.

If the numbers don't quite stack up, you've still got time to do something about it. That's the whole point of looking now.

Treat your super like it actually matters (because it does)

Your super has likely been quietly accumulating in the background for decades. For most Australians, it's the second-largest asset they'll ever own - yet it often receives less attention than a phone plan.

The pre-retirement years are the moment to fix that. A proper super health-check should cover:

• Whether you're in the right investment option for your timeframe and risk appetite

• Whether you still need (or want) the insurance attached to your account

• Whether multiple accounts need consolidating

• Whether your beneficiaries are correctly nominated

• Whether your contribution strategy is making the most of the caps available to you

The other thing worth knowing: contribution opportunities shrink the moment you stop working. Strategies like salary sacrifice, personal deductible contributions, carry-forward unused caps, and downsizer contributions are often most powerful in these final working years. Used well, they can add tens of thousands to your retirement pot - tax-effectively.

Don't write off the Age Pension

It surprises many people to learn that the majority of Australians end up receiving at least some Age Pension during retirement, even if not straight away.

Eligibility kicks in from age 67 and depends on the income and assets tests run by Services Australia. The catch? How and when you draw down your super, how you structure assets, and even when you choose to gift money to family - all of it can affect what you're entitled to.

This is one of those areas where a small bit of planning today can translate into very real dollars later on. It's also an area where assumptions tend to be costly. Worth a closer look.

Sort the paperwork no one wants to talk about

Wills. Powers of attorney. Binding nominations. Not exciting - but absolutely essential.

A few realities to keep in mind:

• Your super doesn't automatically flow through your Will

• Without a valid binding nomination, decisions about your super can end up in someone else's hands

• An enduring power of attorney is only useful if it exists before you need it

• Estate plans built in your 40s may not reflect the life you're living now

The pre-retirement years are the perfect time to make sure all of this is current, properly documented, and actually reflects your wishes. It's a gift to your future self and to the people you love.

Plan the life, not just the money

Here's the part that gets skipped too often: retirement isn't just a financial transition. It's an identity transition.

For decades, work has shaped your routine, your social circle, your sense of contribution, even how you answer the question "so, what do you do?" When that disappears overnight, it can leave a surprisingly large gap - and the data consistently shows that retirees who've thought about how they'll spend their time tend to be far happier than those who've only thought about how they'll fund it.

So, ask yourself: What will your weeks look like? Who will you see regularly? What will give you a sense of purpose? Will you ease out gradually or stop all at once? Is there a passion project, a course, a volunteer role, or a part-time gig that fits the next chapter?

The best retirements are designed, not stumbled into.

Bringing it all together

Retirement isn't a finish line you cross - it's a runway you walk along, ideally well-prepared and pointed in the right direction. The work you do in the final few years before you stop work is what determines how smooth that runway feels.

Get clear on your income. Optimise your super. Understand your entitlements. Tidy up your legal affairs. And give serious thought to the life you actually want to live.

Do those five things well, and what often feels like a leap into the unknown starts to look a lot more like a confident, deliberate step into something you've genuinely been looking forward to.

If you'd like to map out what this looks like for your own situation, that's exactly the kind of conversation we're here to have.

Book a chat with Sonia