Retirement Calculator Australia

How to Use This Calculator

The calculator has two phases. During the accumulation phase, it projects your super balance from today to your nominated retirement age, factoring in your salary, employer SG contributions (12% in 2025-26), any extra salary sacrifice, and your expected investment return. During the drawdown phase, it simulates withdrawing your desired income each year, recalculates your Age Pension entitlement as your balance changes, and tracks how long your super lasts.

How Much Do You Need to Retire?

ASFA publishes widely-used benchmarks for retirement spending in Australia. For 2025, a comfortable retirement costs $54,240 per year for a single person or $76,505 for a couple — enough for regular domestic travel, private health insurance, and a reasonable standard of living. A modest retirement costs $35,199 for a single or $50,866 for a couple, covering essential needs with limited extras. Both figures assume you own your home outright.

ASFA estimates that to achieve a comfortable retirement, a single person needs roughly $595,000 in super at age 67, while a couple needs around $690,000. These estimates assume partial Age Pension eligibility and a 6% annual investment return in retirement.

Understanding the Age Pension

The Age Pension is available from age 67 for both men and women. Your entitlement is determined by two tests — the assets test and the income test — and you receive whichever gives you the lower pension amount.

• Assets test: A single homeowner receives the full pension if assessable assets are below $321,500. The pension reduces by $78/year per $1,000 over the threshold, cutting off at $704,500.
• Income test: Centrelink uses deeming to estimate income from financial assets including your super. The first $60,400 (single) is deemed to earn 0.25% p.a., and the rest earns 2.25% p.a. The pension reduces by 50 cents per dollar of deemed income over the free area ($5,668/yr single).

Your principal home is excluded from the assets test. This calculator models both tests and applies the lower result for each year of your drawdown projection.

Choosing Your Return Rates

During accumulation, long-term super funds have averaged around 7–8% p.a. before fees and tax. In retirement, many people shift to a more conservative portfolio to reduce sequence-of-returns risk, so a retirement return rate of 4–6% is a common assumption. The calculator uses nominal (before inflation) returns. To model results in today's dollars, subtract your expected inflation rate (e.g., 3%) from the nominal rate.

Important Limitations

This calculator assumes:

• A constant annual salary, contribution level, and investment return throughout accumulation
• A constant desired income and return rate throughout retirement
• No non-concessional contributions, carry-forward CC, or transition to retirement strategy
• Age Pension thresholds remain at 2025-26 levels throughout retirement
• No account fees, insurance premiums inside super, or other deductions
• Inflation is not explicitly modelled (use real return rates for a real-terms estimate)

For a comprehensive retirement plan that accounts for tax-effective drawdown strategies, spouse contributions, downsizer contributions and Centrelink optimisation, speak with a licensed financial adviser.