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Simple superannuation and retirement planning information

Retirement Income Reckoner

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The SuperGuide Retirement Income Reckoner allows you to discover what type of annual income (indexed for inflation), you can expect in retirement (including PART Age Pension) for a range of superannuation balances.

You can find out what type of income your retirement savings will deliver based on 8 different retirement balances, starting from $500,000 through to $3.2 million.

The Retirement Income Reckoner is a useful tool to help our readers discover what a given amount of super savings can deliver in retirement, assuming you retire at your Age Pension age, whether you retire as a couple or a single person, how long you want your money to last and what investment returns are generated on your retirement savings.

You can also discover the impact of different investment returns (7% or 6% or 5% or 4% or 3% or 2%) on your expected annual income. You can also discover the difference that living longer means for the income you can expect for a given amount of savings – you can set the Reckoner to assume your super savings run out at age 85, 90, 95 or 100.

Scroll down the page to access the Retirement Income Reckoner.

Note: You can access other SuperGuide Reckoners by clicking on the links below:

How does the Retirement Income Reckoner work?

SuperGuide’s Retirement Income Reckoner allows you to discover what type of indexed annual income over retirement (including part Age Pension) income you can expect for a given amount of super savings, taking into account retirement age, investment returns and how long you want the income to last.

Click on the blue “filter” buttons to select the criteria that interests you or affects you, and the Reckoner will then only list the scenarios that apply to that criteria. You can add extra criteria to enable you to compare scenarios. For an illustration of how the reckoner works you can check out this 2 minute video demonstration.

The Retirement Income Reckoner lists all the retirement scenarios in a table, but you can tick the following variables, to list the outcomes of interest to you, such as:

  • Single or Couple (this is important for discovering your part Age Pension entitlement)
  • Retirement age: 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 67 or 70
  • Return on savings: 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%, 6% or 7%
  • Money lasts until after age: 85 or 90 or 95 or 100

Note: The assumptions we used when calculating the annual retirement incomes contained in the Retirement Income Reckoner appear in the articles contained in the list at the end of this page. Note that these figures are based on set assumptions, and are for guidance only. You should consider your own circumstances when retirement planning

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 What age can you access your super (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:

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IMPORTANT: SuperGuide does not provide financial advice. All information on SuperGuide.com.au is intended only as a guide. It is important to seek professional accredited financial advice when considering whether the information is suitable to your personal circumstances. 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