How does your super nest egg compare?

The average super fund account balance is just $42,000, according to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.

That's enough to bankroll just one year of comfortable retirement, according to the standard set by the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia. And that's assuming you own your home outright.

But – thankfully – looks can be deceiving.

Australians are constantly told they have inadequate money saved for retirement.

But the chairman of retirement income at Challenger, Jeremy Cooper, has crunched the numbers.

And he says Australians have more reasons to smile about their super balances than the average number suggests.

The first reason for reassurance is that the $42,000 figure is per account, not per person. There are nearly 30 million super accounts in Australia, meaning many Australians have access to more than one.

According to the Tax Office, the average super balance – consolidated across all multiple accounts – of an Australian with super is a healthier $108,000.

Still, that hardly sounds sufficient either.

But remember, too, that this is an average for all people with super accounts, including both pre-retirees and teenagers starting their first jobs.

Those 18-year-olds drag down the average considerably. But they still have nearly half a century to sock away more money for retirement.

When considering the sufficiency of the super system, it's important to isolate those approaching retirement. And here the picture is much more reassuring.

According to the Bureau of Statistics, men aged 60 to 64 have accumulated average personal super wealth of $377,000. Women the same age have accumulated $215,000, giving a gender-blind average of $303,000.

Remember that this generation also has significant housing wealth to draw on.

Remember, too, that three out of four people aged 60 to 64 live as a couple, according to the 2011 census. In addition to love and companionship, couples spend less on life's necessities by being able to pool resources and enjoy economies of scale.

Looking at this household level, the average household headed by a 60 to 64-year-old had $355,000 in super, according to 2013-14 data from the Bureau. Excluding those households with no super at all, the average super wealth was $423,000.

So adding in investment returns since then, the average pre-retirement household with super has approaching half a million dollars stashed away.

That's nothing to sneeze at.

And for younger Australians, the picture is even better.

According to calculations by Cooper: "By 2032, when an average retiring couple will have around 40 years of compulsory super, they are likely to have more than $1 million between them. This is like having over $600,000 today, which is a sizeable amount to support retiree spending needs."

The super industry has a vested interest in keeping as much money as possible pouring into the super system, from which they extract fees. Scare campaigns against moves to crackdown on super tax breaks are often by pointing to very low average balances.

But the truth is, Australia's system of compulsory superannuation is working well to ensure older Australians have sizeable sums socked away to support a comfortable retirement.

According to Cooper: "When you look at super wealth more carefully, it is possible to see that the system is a success: it's already enabling retirees to create meaningful amounts of income in retirement."

It's still worth worrying about your super, particularly if you are female, single and don't own property.

But overall, Aussie super nest eggs are healthier than commonly assumed.