Set a target
A common rule of thumb is that you can take about 4% of your savings each year in retirement. Turned around, that means you need about 25 times the yearly income you want from your super:
| Income you want from super | Target balance |
|---|---|
| $20,000 a year | $500,000 |
| $30,000 a year | $750,000 |
| $40,000 a year | $1,000,000 |
Industry benchmarks, such as the ASFA Retirement Standard, publish yearly budgets for a “modest” and a “comfortable” retirement if you’d like a figure to aim for. They assume you own your home: if you’ll still be renting, you’ll need more.
Where the Age Pension fits
The Age Pension is paid from 67 to people whose income and assets are under set limits. Your home isn’t counted in the assets test. Many retirees get a full or part pension, so you may need less from super than the table suggests.
As your super runs down, your Age Pension can rise, so your income falls less than your balance does.
Start as early as you can
The same 12% super guarantee adds up to very different amounts, because money in super early has longer to grow:
- Starting at 25 About $32,870 a year at 4%
- $821,744
- Starting at 35 About $20,188 a year at 4%
- $504,694
- Starting at 45 About $11,144 a year at 4%
- $278,603
Starting at 25 instead of 45 gives you about 2.9 times as much
Assumes 3% pay rises a year and steady average growth after fees. Today’s money takes off inflation, so the figures show what the savings would buy now.
Try your own numbers:
After 30 years you’d have
$200,903
- You put in$72,000
- Growth$128,903
Start ten years later and you’d have $92,408: $108,495 less, though you’d only put in $24,000 less.
Returns aren’t guaranteed and vary from year to year. This assumes the same return every year, before fees and tax.
Should I put in more?
- Check your super is being paid. Since 1 July 2026, employers pay it with each pay, and you can see it in your fund or myGov.
- Salary sacrifice is taxed at 15% in super instead of your income tax rate. Before-tax contributions, including your employer’s, are capped at $32,500 in 2026–27. If your balance is under $500,000, you can also use unused cap from the last 5 years.
- Watch your fees. A difference of half a percent a year adds up over a working life.
- You can usually get your super from 60, once you retire, or from 65 even if you’re still working.
Making it last
Once you retire, you can move your super into an account-based pension. Withdrawals from age 60 are tax-free, and you must take a minimum each year: 5% of your balance from 65 to 74, rising with age. On $500,000, the 4% rule gives about $1,667 a month.
Work out your own number
Our super calculator shows what your super could grow to, how much salary sacrifice adds, and what it costs you in take-home pay. Already retired, or close? See how long your super will last.