TPD cover calculator

Your eligible service date is generally the earlier of the date you joined your super fund and the date you started work with an employer who contributed to it. If you rolled money over from another fund, an earlier date may have been carried across.

Your super fund can tell you the eligible service date for your account.

A TPD lump sum from super is taxed if you are under 60 when it is paid. Part of the payment is tax free. The tax-free share is based on the number of days from when you are disabled until you turn 65, compared with the number of days from your eligible service date until 65.

The rest is taxed at 22% (20% plus the Medicare levy). From age 60, a lump sum from a taxed super fund is tax free.

Your tax-free component is mainly made up of non-concessional (after-tax) contributions. You can find it on your annual statement or in your online account. Enter nil if you don’t have one.

• Your cover will be held in a taxed super fund.
• You will keep your current balance in super until at least age 60, to draw on for retirement.
• You will withdraw the entire insured amount as a lump sum.
• Calculations are based on you becoming disabled today.

The tax-free share of a payment gets smaller as you get closer to 65, so the cover you need in super rises each year until you turn 60. From 60, the payment is tax free.

Your debts and expenses change too, so it’s worth reviewing your cover regularly.