An Australia Superannuation and retirement calculator that projects how large your Super balance could grow and the annual retirement income it can sustainably provide. It is built around Australia’s mandatory system: the Super Guarantee (SG), currently 11.5% of salary, paid by your employer, plus any voluntary contributions you add.
How the Super projection works
The tool runs a year-by-year simulation from your current age to retirement. Each year:
contribution = salary * (SG% + voluntary%)
balance = (balance + contribution) * (1 + return%)
salary = salary * (1 + salaryGrowth%)Contributions land in the fund and the whole balance compounds at your expected after-fee return. Because salary grows over time, contributions rise too, and decades of compounding do most of the heavy lifting.
To estimate retirement income, the projected balance keeps earning a return in retirement and is drawn down as a sustainable annuity over the years between your retirement age and your planned end age:
annualIncome = balance * r / (1 - (1 + r)^-yearsInRetirement)where r is the in-retirement return. This is the level annual amount that exhausts the balance over that period.
Example and notes
A 30-year-old earning 90,000 AUD with a 50,000 AUD Super balance, an 11.5% SG, a 6% after-fee return and retirement at 67 could project a balance well into the high six figures, supporting a meaningful annual income through to age 90.
This models your Super only. It excludes the Age Pension, contributions tax, the transfer balance cap and pension-phase earnings tax. All figures are calculated locally in your browser and are not financial advice.
What the example projection actually looks like
Running the example inputs above through the tool’s own formula (11.5% SG, 6% after-fee return, 3% salary growth, no voluntary contributions) produces this trajectory — useful as a sanity check that the tool is behaving as documented:
| Age | Projected balance (AUD) |
|---|---|
| 35 | ~132,000 |
| 40 | ~253,000 |
| 45 | ~427,000 |
| 50 | ~673,000 |
| 55 | ~1,018,000 |
| 60 | ~1,500,000 |
| 67 | ~2,498,000 |
These are nominal figures — they include 37 years of assumed 3% salary inflation, so the age-67 balance buys far less than the same number would today. A quick way to think in today’s dollars is to use a real return (return minus inflation) and flat salary instead: at a 3% real return the same inputs land around a third of the nominal figure in today’s purchasing power. The drawdown formula applied to the nominal balance (5% in-retirement return, drawdown to age 90) gives roughly $185,000 a year — again nominal, and again why the return and inflation assumptions deserve more attention than any other input.
Projection edge cases worth understanding
- Career breaks compound backwards. A five-year break at age 30 doesn’t just remove five years of contributions — it removes their 37 years of compounding, which is why early-career gaps move the final balance more than late-career ones.
- The SG is paid on ordinary time earnings. Overtime is generally excluded from the SG base, so if a large share of your pay is overtime, your effective contribution rate on total income is lower than the headline SG rate.
- Fees act like a permanent return cut. A 1% difference in annual fees is equivalent to reducing the return input by 1 percentage point — over 35+ years that is one of the largest controllable levers you have.
- Sequence risk isn’t modelled. The projection uses a constant return, but a market fall just before or after retirement hurts far more than the same fall early in your career. Treat the single-number income estimate as a midpoint, not a guarantee.
The Super Guarantee schedule
The SG rate has been rising gradually over recent years. It is currently 11.5% for the 2024–25 year and is scheduled to reach 12% in the 2025–26 year, where it is legislated to remain. For a long-horizon projection, using 12% as the contribution rate gives a slightly more conservative (and ultimately more accurate) estimate of lifetime Super accumulation.
Voluntary contributions: why they compound so powerfully
Voluntary (salary sacrifice) contributions to Super are typically taxed at just 15% going in — significantly less than most individuals’ marginal income tax rates. For a person in the 32.5% or 37% marginal bracket, salary sacrificing into Super means more money lands in the fund compared to receiving the salary and investing after tax. Over 20–30 years, even modest salary-sacrifice amounts compound to meaningful additional balances.
The concessional contribution cap limits how much can go into Super at the 15% tax rate each year (the cap has been rising in recent years — check the ATO for the current figure). Voluntary contributions above the cap are taxed at your marginal rate plus an excess concessional contributions charge.
The Age Pension: what this calculator does not include
The government Age Pension provides a safety net for retirees whose Super balance is insufficient to fund their needs. Eligibility depends on age (currently 67 for most Australians), residency, and an assets and income test. Because the pension is means-tested, a higher Super balance reduces the pension available.
This calculator does not model the Age Pension, which means it may understate your total retirement income if your balance qualifies you for a part pension. It also does not model the Pension Supplement or other government payments. If your projected Super balance is modest, a financial planner can help you integrate the Age Pension into your retirement income plan.
Assumptions that most affect the projection
The two inputs with the largest leverage on the outcome are:
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Investment return after fees: The difference between 5% and 7% annual return over 35 years can roughly double the ending balance. Try the tool at 5%, 6.5%, and 8% to see the sensitivity. Historical long-run returns for diversified Super funds have been in the 7–9% range before fees, but that includes periods of strong markets that may not repeat.
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Your starting balance and age: Existing Super grows uninterrupted; starting at 25 versus 35 makes an enormous difference due to compounding. The tool models both the accumulation on your existing balance and the contributions made over the remaining years.
Sources and references
- ATO — Super guarantee percentage — the SG rate schedule (11.5%, legislated to reach 12%) and the concessional contributions cap
- ATO — Contributions caps — the 15% concessional tax and cap rules referenced above
- MoneySmart (ASIC) — How super works — independent government guidance on Super and the Age Pension
Maintained by the Gera Tools editorial team. This is a private-Super projection only — it excludes the Age Pension, contributions tax, and pension-phase earnings tax. SG rates and caps change; confirm current figures with the ATO. Not financial advice. Last reviewed 2026-07-02.