Australia Superannuation Calculator
Project your superannuation balance at retirement based on your salary, employer contributions, and returns.
What this calculator does
Projects your superannuation balance at retirement by growing your current balance plus ongoing employer contributions at an assumed annual return, giving you a rough retirement savings trajectory.
Who this is for
Australian employees wanting a long-term picture of their retirement savings, anyone deciding whether to add voluntary salary sacrifice contributions, or people comparing how a different expected return or retirement date changes their outlook.
How this calculator works
Projects your current super balance forward using compound growth, adding your employer's mandatory Super Guarantee contribution (12% of salary for 2026-27) each month. Doesn't include any voluntary salary-sacrifice or personal contributions on top of the employer minimum.
Worked example
Starting with $50,000, a $90,000 salary (so $10,800/year in employer contributions at 12%), 25 years to retirement, at 7% average annual return: the current balance alone grows to roughly $271,000 (50,000 × 1.0725), and the ongoing $10,800/year contributions add substantially more on top through the same compounding effect — landing in the rough vicinity of $950,000-$1,000,000 total, illustrating how much of the final balance comes from investment growth on contributions made early, not just the contributions themselves.
Contributions vs. growth
Run the calculator above to see how much of your projected balance comes from contributions vs. investment growth.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting fees eat into returns. Fund fees and insurance premiums are deducted from your balance and aren't modeled here — a high-fee fund can meaningfully reduce your real outcome compared to this projection.
- Not considering salary sacrifice. This models employer contributions only — voluntary pre-tax contributions (up to the $32,500 concessional cap combined) can significantly boost your balance and reduce taxable income.
- Assuming a flat salary and return. Real career salary growth and year-to-year market returns will differ from this smoothed projection — treat it as a rough guide, not a guarantee.
- Underestimating how much early contributions matter. Money contributed decades before retirement compounds for much longer than money contributed in the final few years — starting salary sacrifice early has a disproportionately large effect on the final balance.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does starting salary sacrifice early matter so much?
Contributions made early in your career compound for decades, while contributions made near retirement have far less time to grow. A dollar contributed at age 25 can be worth several times more by retirement than the same dollar contributed at age 55, purely due to the extra compounding time.
Does this include salary sacrifice contributions?
No, this models only the mandatory 12% employer Super Guarantee. Voluntary salary sacrifice contributions on top of that could meaningfully increase your projected balance, up to the combined concessional cap.
Does this account for fund fees?
No, fees and insurance premiums are excluded from this projection. Since these are deducted from your actual balance over time, a high-fee fund will underperform this estimate relative to a low-fee one at the same return.
What's the concessional contributions cap?
$32,500 for 2026-27, combining your employer's Super Guarantee contributions and any salary sacrifice you make — check with your fund before adding extra contributions to avoid exceeding it.