Retirement Income Reckoner

The Retirement Income Reckoner is not a calculator, rather, we have produced the calculations for you, by using the ASIC MoneySmart Retirement Planner. Note that we have not used ASIC’s default assumptions, rather SuperGuide has created these calculations using our own tailored assumptions. We briefly outline the main assumptions used on this page, but refer to the SuperGuide articles listed at the end of the page support the information appearing in the Retirement Income Reckoner. Please also refer to the explanatory notes below the Reckoner, for a more detailed explanation.

Figures contained in the Retirement Income Reckoner were correct as at 11 October 2018. Note that these figures are based on set assumptions, and are for guidance only. You should consider your own circumstances when retirement planning

Notes

Note 1: All scenarios assume you own your own home and you have personal assets (such as car, furniture etc) valued at $25,000.

Note 2: If the scenario is a couple rather than a single person, the retirement balance selected has been allocated evenly to each member of the couple when inputted into the calculator.

Note 3: Lump sum amounts are calculated using ASIC’s MoneySmart retirement planner. In Reckoner, calculations assume returns of 2%, or 3% , or 4% , or 5%, or 6%, or 7% a year, net of fees on the account-based income stream account balance, and returns are reinvested. The annual income from the account-based income stream is indexed by 3% a year.

Note: 4: The Retirement Income Reckoner assumes Age Pension age is 66 years. Age Pension age has increased to 65.5 years (and increases to at least 66 years from July 2019, for anyone born after December 1953). If your Age Pension age is 66.6 years or 67 years, just add another year to how long the annual retirement income will last, and add another year to when the PART Age Pension starts, to give you an indication of the income you can expect. If you want to retire before your Age Pension age, then we suggest you also refer to SuperGuide’s $1 million Retirement Reckoner.

Note 5: If you decide to retire at 58 (assuming you can access your super), or 60, or 62, or 64, or 66 or even 70, the Retirement Income Reckoner can tell you the annual income you can expect for your $1 million, depending on whether you want the income to last until after the age of 85, or after the age of 90, or 95 or even after the age of 100.

Note 6: The figures in the Retirement Income Reckoner assume you can access your super benefits, that is you have reached your preservation age, and if you’re under the age of 65, that you have also retired from the workforce. If you were born after June 1964, you cannot access your super benefits until you turn 60 years of age (your preservation age). If you’re planning to rely on your super benefits when you retire, age 58 is the current minimum age at which you can access super (preservation age) for those born from 1 July 1962 until 30 June 1963, and eventually moving to age 60 for those born on or after 1 July 1964 (for more information see SuperGuide articles Accessing super: What is my preservation age? and Retirement Age Reckoner: Discover your preservation age and Age Pension age).

Note 7: For other Reckoner assumptions see SuperGuide article How much super do you need to retire comfortably?).

For more helpful articles on how much super is enough for your retirement, see the following SuperGuide articles:

• How much super do you need to retire comfortably?
• Retirement income: Come on, how much super do I really need?
• Retirement income: Living on more than $60,000 a year
• Retirement income: Want to live on $100,000 a year?
• Crunching the numbers: a $1 million retirement (7% and 5% returns)
• Low yields: A $1 million retirement on 3% or 2% returns
• Crunching the numbers: a $1.6 million retirement
• Retirement income: Today’s dollars, and why $1 million can’t last forever
• Financial freedom: Retirement planning in six steps
• The super challenge: At what age should I retire?
• Understanding your life expectancy
• Age Pension age increasing to 67 years (not 70 years)