Two separate questions: comparison and planning
Peer balances come from Table 2 of ASFA’s 2026 account-balance report, published in August 2026 using ATO data at June 2024. The report excludes nil balances. We reproduce its median and mean for each age band without estimating a statistic for a single birthday. A median is the middle observation; a mean is affected more by large balances. Neither is a recommended target.
The retirement scenarios are original SuperGuru calculations. They are not ASFA forecasts, an endorsement by a source organisation or a personal financial recommendation. A published retirement benchmark has its own pension, housing and return assumptions and should not be treated as interchangeable with this model.
Default assumptions and units
Version 1.0 was released on 6 September 2026. The starting example is a single person with the dated median balance for their age band, $85,000 annual qualifying earnings, retirement at 67 and planning to 95. A couple example adds a partner’s editable balance and $65,000 earnings, assumes both retire on the same date and uses combined household spending.
The accumulation return defaults to 3% a year after inflation, investment fees and earnings tax, with $600 annual administration and insurance costs per person deducted separately. The retirement return is 2% after inflation and all costs and tax. These rates and costs are illustrative choices, not investment advice or independently actuarially assessed forecasts. The sensitivity comparison uses 1%, 3% and 5% real accumulation returns.
Every amount is expressed in today’s dollars. Earnings, contributions, spending and fixed costs are assumed constant in purchasing power, equivalent to increasing with inflation in nominal dollars. We do not deduct inflation a second time. Real salaries and real living standards do not grow in this model.
How contributions and accumulation are calculated
Your annual net contribution equals (qualifying earnings × employer rate + monthly before-tax extras × 12) × 0.85, plus monthly after-tax extras × 12. The 0.85 factor assumes 15% contributions tax. Partner contributions use the entered partner earnings and the same employer rate; the extra-contribution fields apply only to you.
For each year before retirement: next balance = the larger of zero and [current balance × (1 + real return) + net contributions − annual administration and insurance]. Contributions and fixed costs are applied at year end. A contribution break starts now and pauses all your contributions for the selected whole years. Partner contributions continue. There are no partial-year calculations.
The form checks employer plus extra before-tax contributions against the current $32,500 general annual cap per person and extra after-tax contributions against $130,000. These 2026–27 caps are held constant in real terms for the illustration; future indexation or law is not predicted. Carry-forward, bring-forward, total-super-balance eligibility, work tests, government contributions, low-income offsets and Division 293 tax are not calculated. Passing the input check does not establish that a contribution is permitted.
How the retirement capital is calculated
Annual base spending equals living costs plus owner or renter costs and, for renters, 52 × weekly rent. Holiday spending is trip cost × trips per year and applies only for the first selected number of retirement years. The model subtracts user-entered other retirement income, with a floor of zero on the funding gap. That income is assumed to last throughout retirement and should exclude Age Pension.
For a constant annual spending gap C, real retirement return r and n retirement years, the capital is C × [1 − (1 + r) raised to −n] ÷ r. At a zero return it is C × n. The travel part uses the same formula over its shorter travel period. Withdrawals occur at year end; capital is exhausted at the final planning age.
The one-off reserve and any mortgage payout or home-purchase funding gap are added at retirement without discounting. A mortgage is assumed cleared in full immediately, so monthly loan repayments are not also added. The purchase setting models a home bought at retirement, not before it. Ongoing owner costs still apply afterwards.
The balance-needed-today figure works backwards through the same accumulation model until the projected retirement balance meets this capital requirement. Couple accounts are projected separately; their starting capital keeps the proportion of the entered balances (or half each if both are zero). Other-income surpluses are not reinvested. A zero starting requirement means assumed future contributions cover the simplified target; it does not establish that no savings or emergency buffer is needed.
Why Age Pension is excluded
A meaningful pension calculation needs both income and assets tests, residence, partner circumstances, deeming and changes through retirement. This model does not implement them and does not assume a maximum pension. Its funding target is therefore a self-funded scenario after the other income you enter.
ASFA’s published lump sums may include part Age Pension under its own assumptions. Our target can be much higher, particularly for a modest budget, and should not be presented as the amount everyone must save. Use Services Australia and a detailed retirement-income planner for pension interactions.
Location, lifestyle and the costs that are not forecasts
The everyday-essential, flexible and higher-spending presets are original example budgets for general living costs. They exclude housing and travel so those can be entered separately. They are not ASFA lifestyle definitions or estimates of the average Australian household.
City selection provides local planning prompts only. No city-specific rent dataset or price multiplier is built into the calculation. Enter actual local amounts and their source dates. CPI is not a valid basis for comparing price levels between cities.
The model has no age-related changes in health spending, aged-care costs, investment volatility, inheritance, property appreciation, debt amortisation or employment uncertainty beyond the entered contribution break. Defined-benefit accounts, tax-free pension transfer limits and minimum pension withdrawals require a more detailed model. The reserve is a one-off allowance, not an aged-care provision.
How to use and update the result
Record the date, inputs and assumptions when saving a result. Recalculate when your finances or plans change. Test lower returns, a longer lifespan, a higher housing cost and a different retirement date separately, so you understand which assumption caused the change.
Outputs are rounded to the nearest $1,000 for planning; calculations retain their precision. The website’s calculation checks cover zero-return cases, contribution breaks, household balances, housing and travel changes, and invalid inputs. That is software verification, not a claim of review by a licensed financial adviser.