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Home / Plan your retirement / How much super do I need?

Income from super Reckoner

February 18, 2020 by SuperGuide Leave a Comment

Reading time: 1 minute

SuperGuide’s Income from super Reckoner can help you quickly and simply understand the approximate super savings you need to fund your desired retirement income.

The figures used in the reckoner have been sourced from the MoneySmart Retirement Planner, a powerful tool that we highly recommend you try for yourself. SuperGuide’s reckoner is not intended to replace the calculator, but rather complement it by making it easier for to quickly compare different scenarios.

The reckoner allows you to filter for the following factors:

  • How much income in retirement you are aiming for
  • Whether you are single or a couple
  • Whether or not you are eligible to receive the Age Pension
  • Whether you anticipate a return on your super savings of 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%, 6% or 7% per year (net of fees)
  • Whether you’d like your super to last 25 years, 30 years or 35 years.

Note

We do not consider it realistic to achieve returns of 7% per year net of all fees, particularly over such a long time period, but we have added these as points for comparison after requests from readers. Discover the top performing pension funds.


We’ve incorporated the ASFA Retirement Standard as the lowest options for Singles and Couples:

ASFA Retirement StandardSingleCouple
Modest lifestyle$28,165$40,560
Comfortable lifestyle$44,146$62,269

The tool then shows you approximately how much super savings you would need for each scenario. For example, if you are a couple seeking an income of $80,000 per year, are not eligible for the Age Pension, are anticipating a return of 4% per year, and would like your super to last 30 years, then you would need approximately $2,900,000 (combined) in super.

The Income from super Reckoner is similar to our Super to income Reckoner but works the opposite way.


Disclaimer

This reckoner is only intended as a guide to present approximate scenarios and should not be relied on to provide definitive figures on what your retirement income is likely to be. We highly recommend you try the MoneySmart Retirement Planner for yourself, but remember that it is only a model and not a prediction.

To view a demonstration video of how to use the MoneySmart Retirement Planner, see SuperGuide article Video: How to use the MoneySmart Retirement Planner.


To use the reckoner just select the blue boxes that you would like to filter on and the results will appear below.

Relationship status Annual income in retirement Return on savings (% per year) Eligible for Age Pension? Years super lasts
wdt_ID Relationship status Annual income in retirement Return on savings (% per year) Eligible for Age Pension? Years super lasts Super balance needed

Assumptions

  • You own your own home and have personal assets of $25,000 or less, and $0 in investment assets outside super. Note that the amount of investment assets you have can greatly affect the amount of Age Pension you are eligible for.
  • Inflation costs are a 2% rise per year in cost of living plus an 1.2% additional rise per year in living standards
  • You retire after you reach Age Pension age
  • All returns are net of fees
  • We recommend you also review the assumptions that MoneySmart list below their calculator
  • Results are in today’s dollars.

Note: The MoneySmart calculator is limited to a super balance of $5 million per person. This means that for some income levels at low return rates we can only specify “$5m+” (for a Single person), or “$10m+” (for a Couple)

Learn more about how much super is enough in the following SuperGuide articles:

How to use the MoneySmart Retirement Planner

How to use the MoneySmart Retirement Planner

January 21, 2021

Super to income Reckoner

Super to income Reckoner

February 18, 2020

Is $500,000 in super enough to retire on?

Is $500,000 in super enough to retire on?

February 11, 2020

Is $750,000 in super enough to retire on?

Is $750,000 in super enough to retire on?

February 11, 2020

Is $1 million in super enough to retire on?

Is $1 million in super enough to retire on?

February 11, 2020

Is $1.6 million in super enough to retire on?

Is $1.6 million in super enough to retire on?

February 11, 2020

Is $2 million in super enough to retire on?

Is $2 million in super enough to retire on?

February 11, 2020

Is $3.2 million in super enough for a couple to retire on?

Is $3.2 million in super enough for a couple to retire on?

February 11, 2020

How much super do I need to retire on $40,000 a year?

How much super do I need to retire on $40,000 a year?

February 11, 2020

How much super do I need to retire on $60,000 a year?

How much super do I need to retire on $60,000 a year?

February 11, 2020

How much super do I need to retire on $80,000 a year?

How much super do I need to retire on $80,000 a year?

February 11, 2020

How much super do I need to retire on $100,000 a year?

How much super do I need to retire on $100,000 a year?

February 11, 2020

How much super do I need to retire?

How much super do I need to retire?

February 11, 2020

How accurate are ‘retirement estimates’? 7 assumptions you need to understand

How accurate are ‘retirement estimates’? 7 assumptions you need to understand

November 21, 2019

Falling behind with your super? How your super balance compares

Falling behind with your super? How your super balance compares

October 2, 2019

Learn more about retirement calculators and reckoners in the following SuperGuide articles:

Annual super fund performance Reckoner: Annual returns for 5 investment categories

Annual super fund performance Reckoner: Annual returns for 5 investment categories

January 19, 2021

Age Pension calculator: How much could you be eligible for?

Age Pension calculator: How much could you be eligible for?

September 18, 2020

Super to income Reckoner

Super to income Reckoner

February 18, 2020

Super fees and returns calculator

Super fees and returns calculator

October 2, 2019

Retirement age calculator: When can you access your super or the Age Pension?

Retirement age calculator: When can you access your super or the Age Pension?

August 7, 2019

How reliable are retirement income calculators?

How reliable are retirement income calculators?

August 1, 2019

Related topics

How much super do I need? Plan your retirement

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Retirement calculators and reckoners

IMPORTANT: All information on SuperGuide is general in nature only and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider whether any information on SuperGuide is appropriate to you before acting on it. If SuperGuide refers to a financial product you should obtain the relevant product disclosure statement (PDS) or seek personal financial advice before making any investment decisions. Comments provided by readers that may include information relating to tax, superannuation or other rules cannot be relied upon as advice. SuperGuide does not verify the information provided within comments from readers. Learn more

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How much super do I need?
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Retirement calculators and reckoners
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Important: Disclaimer

All information on SuperGuide is general in nature only and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs.

You should consider whether any information on SuperGuide is appropriate to you before acting on it.

If SuperGuide refers to a financial product you should obtain the relevant product disclosure statement (PDS) or seek personal financial advice before making any investment decisions.

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