For plenty of Australians, turning 60 feels like reaching the finish line and starting retirement.

It’s the age when most people can finally access their superannuation. After decades of work, the money is finally yours.

So why not hand in the resignation letter? Because there’s one detail that’s easy to miss: the Age Pension generally doesn’t begin until age 67. That means if you retire at 60, you’re responsible for funding every single day of the next seven years yourself.

That’s where the maths starts getting interesting.

The seven-year gap

Spend enough time on retirement forums and you’ll quickly find plenty of doom and gloom. “Retirement is dead.” “We’ll all work forever.” “Nobody can afford to stop.”

It’s easy to get caught up in that negativity.

According to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), a single person needs around $630,000 in super to enjoy a comfortable retirement.

But there’s an important catch. That figure assumes retirement begins at around Age Pension age.

Retiring at 60 changes the equation dramatically.

Your super suddenly changes direction

Here’s what many people overlook.

The day you stop working isn’t just the day your salary disappears. It’s also the day your employer stops making super contributions.

Until then, your super has been doing two jobs at once. Investment returns are compounding, while your employer keeps adding another 12% of your salary into the account.

Once you retire, that conveyor belt switches off. Instead of filling the bucket, you start emptying it.

ASFA estimates a single retiree needs around $51,000 a year for a comfortable lifestyle.

If you begin retirement with $630,000, that’s more than 8% of your balance withdrawn in the very first year. Repeat that for seven years and your nest egg can look very different by age 67.

Those are also some of the most valuable years for compound returns. Once that capital has been spent, you can’t simply replace it.

Waiting until 67 changes everything

Now flip the scenario. Instead of retiring at 60, you keep working until 67. Your super isn’t shrinking. It’s still receiving employer contributions, while investment returns continue compounding.

Using a simple illustration, a $600,000 super balance earning an average annual return of 6% — alongside ongoing employer contributions — could potentially grow to around $950,000 over seven years. Actual outcomes will vary depending on investment returns, contributions, fees, and market conditions.

That’s an enormous difference. One person reaches 67 with a much smaller balance after drawing down their savings. The other arrives at retirement with a significantly larger portfolio.

That’s the real cost of retiring seven years early.

There is a middle ground

Fortunately, retirement doesn’t have to be all or nothing. A Transition to Retirement Pension (TTR) allows eligible Australians to access part of their super while continuing to work.

That could mean dropping back to three days a week instead of walking away altogether. Your employer is still making super contributions, while your investments continue working in the background.

There’s one catch, though. Many people assume a TTR automatically receives tax-free treatment. It doesn’t. Earnings within a TTR pension are generally taxed at up to 15%. The tax-free treatment usually begins only once you’ve fully retired or reached age 65.

The bottom line

Spreadsheets can tell you how much money you might have. They can’t tell you how much seven extra years in a job you dislike will cost your health or happiness.

For some Australians, retiring at 60 will be entirely achievable. For others, working a little longer could dramatically improve their financial security.

Neither choice is automatically right or wrong.

The important part is having a plan. Retirement isn’t something to drift into. The earlier you understand the trade-offs, the more choices you’ll have when the time finally comes to stop working.

The post Retirement at 60 or 67: The hidden cost most Australians never calculate appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Marc Van Dinther has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The team at Morgans has been running the rule over a number of ASX shares this week.

Let’s see if it is bullish, bearish, or something in between. Here’s what the broker is saying:

Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX: PME)

Morgans remains positive on this medical imaging technology company after reviewing its financial model. This week, the broker has reaffirmed its accumulate rating and $230.00 price target on Pro Medicus shares. It said:

We have identified an error in the previously published financial summary tables, where a number of figures did not pull through correctly from our underlying model. The error was presentational only. The underlying financial model is unchanged, with no impact on any forecast, assumption or valuation input. No change to our ACCUMULATE rating or A$230.00 DCF-based target price.

ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD)

The broker has been looking at ResMed’s decision to sell one of its software businesses. Morgans supports the decision and believes ResMed remains well-placed for growth through to FY 2028.

In response, it has retained its buy rating with a $40.97 price target. It explains:

MatrixCare will be divested for US$490m cash (c9x earnings), crystallising a disappointing financial outcome (paid US$750m (25x) in 2018) for a business that expanded software capabilities but delivered modest earnings growth. Strategically, however, we believe the transaction makes sense, as it simplifies the portfolio and retains Brightree and MEDIFOX DAN, while exiting a lower-growth, non-core software business. Importantly, net proceeds will largely be returned to shareholders via an accelerated share repurchase (ASR), which should substantially offset earnings dilution from both the MatrixCare disposal and the recently completed Noctrix acquisition, while FY26 guidance has been reaffirmed. We make modest adjustments to FY26-28 forecasts, with our target price moving to A$40.97 (from A$41.72). BUY.

Worley Ltd (ASX: WOR)

Morgans isn’t feeling as positive on this engineering company. It thinks investors should probably keep their powder dry for the time being due to challenging trading conditions. As a result, it has put a hold rating and $10.80 price target on its shares. It said:

The late June trading update lifted the FY26 Middle East impost to $60m EBITA (from $30-40m) and quantified the 2H FX impact as $50m. Medium term, WOR should see some earnings support from Middle East repair activity and a broader uplift in global upstream hydrocarbon spending driven by renewed energy security concerns. However, consensus already embeds strong growth into FY27 (Visible Alpha EBITA +12% YoY) which is well above industry forecast growth rates. With capex expectations continuing to soften in the key Energy end-market and the order book likely to roll over at the FY26 result, we retain our conservative view. We reduce our EBITA forecasts by 8-9% across our forecast period and cut our target price to $10.80 (from $11.80). HOLD maintained.

The post Buy, hold, sell: Pro Medicus, Worley, and ResMed shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Pro Medicus and ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Pro Medicus. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pro Medicus. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

A 10-year investment period changes the way I look at ASX shares.

I am less interested in what might move next month and more interested in whether the business can become much larger, stronger, or more valuable over time.

The three ASX 300 shares below all look capable of doing that, in my opinion.

Catapult Sports Ltd (ASX: CAT)

Catapult Sports is one of the more interesting growth shares on the ASX.

The company provides technology used by elite sports teams to track athlete performance, manage workload, analyse video, and improve decision-making.

That may sound niche, but I think the long-term opportunity is attractive.

Professional sport keeps becoming more data-driven. Clubs and leagues are spending more on tools that can help them reduce injuries, improve training, support coaching decisions, and find small performance advantages.

What I like about Catapult Sports is that its products can become part of the way teams operate. Once performance staff, coaches, and athletes are using the platform, the relationship can become deeper and stickier over time.

This is still a growth business, so investors should expect some volatility. Catapult needs to keep converting its customer base and recurring revenue into stronger profits.

But over 10 years, I think the company has a genuine chance to become a much larger global sports technology business.

SiteMinder Ltd (ASX: SDR)

SiteMinder is another ASX 300 share I would be happy to buy and hold.

The company provides software for hotels, helping them manage bookings, distribution channels, direct sales, payments, and online visibility.

I like this business because it sits behind a problem that hotel operators face every day.

Hotels need to sell rooms across multiple platforms, manage pricing, reduce friction, and compete for guests in a digital travel market. That can be difficult, especially for smaller and independent operators. SiteMinder gives hotels the tools to handle more of that complexity in one place.

The travel sector will always have cycles. Weak consumer spending, economic slowdowns, and global shocks can affect hotel demand.

But the long-term shift toward digital hotel commerce looks hard to reverse. I think more accommodation providers will need better technology to compete.

And if SiteMinder keeps expanding its platform and improving monetisation, I think it could be a rewarding 10-year holding.

Bega Cheese Ltd (ASX: BGA)

Bega Cheese is a very different type of ASX 300 share.

It is tied to food, dairy, branded products, and everyday consumer demand. That gives it a more defensive feel than many smaller growth shares.

What interests me is that the Vegemite owner appears to have a clearer earnings improvement pathway.

Its FY26 EBITDA guidance is $222 million to $227 million. Looking further out, the company has outlined an FY31 EBITDA target of more than $310 million.

That growth is expected to be supported by investment in areas such as milk-based beverages, yoghurt, and Tatura cream cheese capability.

There are still things to watch, including input costs, supermarket pricing pressure, execution, and competition.

But if management can deliver on its targets, Bega could look like a much stronger business in 10 years.

Foolish takeaway

I think these are the kinds of ASX 300 shares that can reward investors who are willing to look beyond the next earnings update.

Each business still has plenty to prove, which is why I would not treat any of them as risk-free blue-chip holdings. But that is also where the opportunity sits.

Catapult, SiteMinder, and Bega Cheese all have clear ways to become better businesses over time, whether through deeper customer relationships, stronger platforms, improved efficiency, or expansion into higher-value areas.

For a 10-year holding period, that is what I want to see. The share price may not reward investors evenly along the way, but I think the long-term direction looks attractive.

The post 3 ASX 300 shares I would buy and hold for 10 years appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Grace Alvino has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Catapult Sports and SiteMinder. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Catapult Sports and SiteMinder. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.