The Long Weekend Plan is a set of calculators. PlanLens projects a household's super, savings, investments, property, loans, tax, Age Pension and spending year by year until the younger person turns 92, or for 15 or 30 years if you choose, using the numbers you enter and the assumptions shown. PensionLens works out this year's Age Pension and shows how total income changes as the super balance changes. Portfolio and SpendLens read your own statements and summarise them.
It is designed to help you understand how the parts of a retirement plan interact and to test “what if” questions. It does not tell you what to do, does not recommend any financial product, and does not know anything about you beyond what you enter.
The Long Weekend Plan is provided by Mark Murphy, a sole trader, under the registered business name The Long Weekend Plan. It is an educational tool: it does not provide personal financial advice and is not a substitute for advice from a financial services licensee.
The calculators are provided under ASIC’s relief for calculators: ASIC Corporations (Superannuation Calculators and Retirement Estimates) Instrument 2022/603, and ASIC Corporations (Generic Calculators) Instrument 2026/41. No financial product is recommended, and the provider receives no commissions or payments from any fund, product issuer or adviser.
Calculations run in your browser. Statement files are read on your device and are not uploaded. Optional extras send only what they need: AI categorising sends cleaned merchant names. If you sign in, your email address is used for your account.
A copy of each released version of this calculator is kept for at least seven years after it was last available. Model checks are published on the validation page; both the calculator and the spreadsheet it is checked against were built by the same author.
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Every assumption that is not fixed by law can be changed in PlanLens (Assumptions tab) or in the Build cards. The defaults are starting points, not forecasts; replace them with your own where you have better information.
| Assumption | Default | Why it is a reasonable starting point |
|---|---|---|
| Super return, industry / retail fund (accumulation and pension) | 8% a year | After fees and tax, as your fund reports it. Chant West’s median growth fund (61–80% growth assets) has returned 8% a year since compulsory super began in July 1992, net of investment fees and tax but before administration fees (Chant West, January 2026). 8% matches that long-run figure; if your fund charges administration fees, a slightly lower figure allows for them. Use your own fund’s long-run return for its investment option if you know it. |
| SMSF and shares outside super: capital growth | 4% a year | Growth in the value of directly held shares, excluding dividends. Together with dividends it gives 8% a year before franking credits, for a portfolio mainly in Australian shares; this carries more risk than a diversified fund. Use your own portfolio’s long-run figures if you have them. |
| SMSF and shares outside super: dividend yield | 4% a year | Cash dividends as a share of the portfolio’s value. Change it to your portfolio’s yield. The super dividend yield and franking are also used to work out super earnings for the Division 296 tax (super over $3 million), for every kind of fund: an industry or retail fund reports only one return, after tax, so the same yield stands in for the income part of that return. Rises in value are not counted, as the law does. |
| Franking | 70% | Share of dividends that carry franking credits. Australian shares are typically 70–100% franked, so 70% is at the cautious end. |
| Cash interest | 3.5% a year | A round figure for an at-call savings account. Enter your own account’s rate. |
| Retirement age | 67, if you do not enter one | The age ASIC sets as the default for super calculators (instrument 2022/603), and the Age Pension age. Enter your own planned retirement age. |
| Super drawdown age | Your retirement age, and not before 60 | Most people start drawing their super as a pension when they stop work. A pension cannot start before 60, and before 65 only once you retire (or as a transition to retirement pension, which you can set separately). A separate drawdown age is part of Plus. |
| Birthdays, retirement and drawdown | 1 July, if no month is set | Each age then applies for a whole financial year, which keeps the yearly plan simple. It matters most in the year you retire or reach 67. Months can be set in Plus. |
| Private hospital cover | Yes | No Medicare levy surcharge is added unless you say you have no private hospital cover (in People, Advanced details). Choose No if your household has none. |
| How long to look into the future | Max: to age 92 | ASIC’s default period for retirement estimates: until the younger person turns 92, and at least 5 years. You can choose Short (15 years) or Medium (30 years) instead (in People, Advanced details). All plans stop once the younger person reaches 92. A longer period tests whether your money lasts if you live longer. Plan Confidence and the stress tests use the same period, and anything planned after its last year (a sale, a purchase, a death) is left out. |
| Inflation before retirement | 3.7% a year | Used for each year until the first retirement in the household. ASIC’s rules for super calculators use 3.7% each year until retirement: the long-term forecast for growth in average wages (2023 Intergenerational Report). Your spending target and other amounts entered in today’s dollars rise with it. Example: $50,000 of spending today is about $55,760 three years from now, and shows as $50,000 in today’s dollars. |
| Inflation after retirement | 2.5% a year | Used from the first retirement in the household. The midpoint of the Reserve Bank’s 2–3% inflation target, and the rate ASIC’s rules use after retirement. Amounts the law indexes to CPI (the transfer balance cap, the Division 296 thresholds and the indexed cost base for capital gains) use this rate in every year. |
| Wages growth (AWOTE) | 3.7% a year | Australian average full-time adult ordinary time earnings, the measure the law uses to index the concessional contributions cap (in $2,500 steps; the non-concessional cap is 4 times it) and the Medicare levy surcharge thresholds. The default is the long-term forecast for wage growth (2023 Intergenerational Report), the same rate ASIC’s rules use and the same default as Inflation before retirement. It is separate from your own income growth, which applies to your salary. |
| Salary growth | 2% a year | Kept modest so that future super contributions are not overstated. ASIC’s default for wage growth in super calculators is 3.7%; set your own expectation. |
| Centrelink indexing | 2.5% a year | Age Pension rates and means-test thresholds are indexed by law to price and wage measures; this is the yearly rate used to project them. The default equals the default inflation after retirement, so pension and thresholds keep pace with your spending target and the plan does not build up cash only because the two rates differ. Indexation has often been a little higher than inflation, so this is a cautious choice; adjust it if you expect different indexation. |
| Yearly rise in tax bracket thresholds | 1% a year | Each year the income levels where each tax rate starts go up by this percentage. The tax rates themselves (15%, 30%, 37%, 45%, and 14% instead of 15% from 2027–28) stay as the law sets them. Example: at 1% a year, the 30% rate starts at $45,000 this year, $45,450 next year and about $49,700 in ten years. Why 1%: governments cut income tax from time to time, often by raising these thresholds. For example, from 1 July 2024 the 37% rate moved from $120,000 to $135,000 and the 45% rate from $180,000 to $190,000, while the 19% rate was cut to 16% and the 32.5% rate to 30%. This setting allows for future cuts by raising the thresholds only, and 1% a year is a cautious allowance. Enter 0% to keep the thresholds at today’s amounts. Changes already in law, such as the 14% rate, still apply. |
| Yearly rise in tax offsets and thresholds | 2.5% a year | Each year the low income tax offset (LITO), the seniors and pensioners tax offset (SAPTO) and the Medicare levy low-income thresholds go up by this percentage: both the offset amounts and the incomes where they start to reduce. Example: at 2.5% a year, a single person’s SAPTO starts reducing above $36,034 this year, about $36,935 next year and about $46,100 in ten years. Why 2.5%: the law sets these as fixed amounts, but governments raise them from time to time (SAPTO’s thresholds rose for 2026–27). 2.5% matches the default inflation rate, so that, as now, someone living only on the Age Pension pays no income tax. Enter 0% to keep them at today’s amounts. |
| Rent increases | 2% a year | For other property (not your home). Enter your own expectation. |
| Property values | 4% a year | Long-run growth for the home and any other property. Property values vary widely by location and period; enter your own expectation. |
| Home and investment loan rates | 6% a year | A round figure for a variable rate. Enter your loan’s actual rate. |
| Super Guarantee | 12% of salary | The legislated rate. Change it if your employer pays more. |
| Transfer balance cap | $2,100,000 | The 2026–27 general cap: the space you have to move super into retirement phase. If you have already started a retirement-phase pension, enter your available cap space from myGov. It is indexed in later years (see What is indexed by what). |
| Work Bonus bank | $11,800 | The maximum bank under the law. Enter your actual bank from your Centrelink account if you have been working. |
| Return profiles (Rate of Return) | Conservative 4% + 4%, volatility 7%; Balanced 4% + 5%, 10%; Growth 5% + 5%, 12% | Capital growth plus dividends for a share portfolio, with volatility (how much returns vary from year to year) rising with expected return. They are illustrations for testing market ups and downs; each line can be changed. |
| Lifetime annuity payment rate (PensionLens) | 6% (5% and 7% also available) | Illustrative payment rates for a lifetime annuity bought around Age Pension age. Real rates depend on age, provider and interest rates when bought. |
| Today’s dollars | The two inflation rates above | ASIC’s method: inflation before retirement (3.7%) for each year until the first retirement, then inflation after retirement (2.5%). Because the plan grows amounts by the same rates, an amount entered in today’s dollars stays the same in today’s dollars. |
Rates fixed by law (tax rates and thresholds, the Medicare levy, tax offsets, super contribution caps, Age Pension rates, means-test thresholds and deeming rates) are applied as legislated for the current year (the Medicare levy low-income thresholds are the 2025-26 amounts, the latest published) and cannot be changed, except through the indexation assumptions above. What each one moves is listed below.
Each amount below is set for 2026–27 and then moved each later year by one of the assumptions above. Amounts set by law in steps (the super caps) move only in those steps, as the law does: the plan works out the amount the index gives, then rounds it down to the step. An amount that has not yet reached the next step stays where it is.
| Amount in the plan | 2026–27 | Moves each year with | How it moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your spending and income | |||
| Living budget, other income, deductions, personal assets | As entered | Inflation (before, then after retirement) | Every year, by the rate. |
| Salary | As entered | Salary growth (each person) | Every year, by the rate. A salary shaped over time on the Income page is in today’s dollars and moves with inflation. |
| Rent, property values | As entered | Rent increases, property values | Every year, by the rate. |
| Defined benefit pensions, lifetime annuities, overseas pensions | As entered | Chosen for each one | Inflation (before, then after retirement), a fixed percentage, or not indexed. A defined benefit pension grows with inflation until it starts. An overseas pension that is not indexed stays at today’s amount from now, including before it starts. |
| Rent after selling the home | As entered | Inflation (before, then after retirement) | Every year from today, by the rate. |
| A lifetime annuity bought in the plan | As entered | Inflation (before, then after retirement) | Every year up to the year it is bought. |
| Loan repayments | As entered | Not indexed | The same every year until the loan is repaid. |
| Age Pension | |||
| Maximum rates, income test free area, assets test thresholds, deeming thresholds | Services Australia rates | Centrelink indexing | Every year, by the rate. The law indexes the rates each March and September (by prices, kept to a share of male wages) and the thresholds each July (by prices); the plan uses one yearly rate for all of them. |
| Deeming rates | 1.75% and 3.75% | Not indexed | Set by the government, not by a formula; held at today’s rates. |
| Work Bonus | $300 a fortnight; bank up to $11,800 | Not indexed | Fixed amounts in the law. |
| Income tax | |||
| Income tax bracket thresholds | $18,200 / $45,000 / $135,000 / $190,000 | Yearly rise in tax bracket thresholds | Rise each year by that setting (default 1%), allowing for occasional tax cuts. Tax rates are not changed. |
| Low income tax offset (LITO), seniors and pensioners tax offset (SAPTO), Medicare levy low-income thresholds | ATO rates | Yearly rise in tax offsets and thresholds | Rise each year by that setting (default 2.5%, in line with prices). In the law LITO and SAPTO are fixed amounts and the Medicare levy thresholds change only when a new law sets them. |
| Medicare levy surcharge income thresholds | $105,000 single; $210,000 couple | Wages growth (AWOTE), as in the law | In $1,000 steps, rounded down, never falling. The other tier thresholds move the same way; a couple’s are double a single’s. |
| Division 293 threshold | $250,000 | Not indexed | Fixed in the law. |
| Capital gains cost base of other property (not your home) (gains from 1 July 2027) | As entered | Inflation after retirement (the law uses CPI) | Raised by the rate for the time held after 1 July 2027, for a property held 12 months or more. |
| Super contributions | |||
| Concessional contributions cap | $32,500 | Wages growth (AWOTE), as in the law | In $2,500 steps, rounded down, never falling. The amount before rounding is about $33,450 in 2026–27, so the cap reaches $35,000 once wages are about 4.6% higher: at the 3.7% default, in 2028–29. At 0% it stays at $32,500. Unused cap carries forward for five years. |
| Non-concessional contributions cap | $130,000 | 4 × the concessional cap | In $10,000 steps with it. The 3-year bring-forward allows 3 times the cap. |
| Non-concessional limits by total super balance: bring-forward thresholds and the nil cap | $1.84m / $1.97m / $2.1m | The general transfer balance cap and the non-concessional cap | The nil cap is the general transfer balance cap; the 2-year and 1-year limits start at that cap less 2 and 1 years’ non-concessional cap. They move with both caps’ steps. |
| Carry-forward balance test | Under $500,000 | Not indexed | Fixed in the law. |
| Downsizer contribution | Up to $300,000 each, from age 55 | Not indexed | Fixed in the law. |
| Super Guarantee rate | 12% of salary | Not indexed | The legislated rate. |
| Super pensions | |||
| General transfer balance cap | $2,100,000 | Inflation after retirement (the law uses CPI) | In $100,000 steps, rounded down, never falling. The amount before rounding is about $2,104,000 in 2026–27, so the cap reaches $2.2m once prices are about 4.6% higher. |
| Your transfer balance cap space | As entered | The general cap’s steps, in part (proportional indexation) | Each time the general cap rises by a $100,000 step, your cap rises by that step times your unused cap percentage: 100% less your highest transfer balance as a percentage of your cap on the day it was reached, rounded down to a whole percent. With no pension started you get the whole step; with the cap fully used you get nothing. If you entered the space left on a pension already running, the plan treats the rest of the 2026–27 general cap as already used. |
| Defined benefit income cap | $131,250 | The general transfer balance cap ÷ 16 | In $6,250 steps with the general cap. |
| Minimum pension drawdown rates | 4% to 14% by age | Not indexed | Set by age in the law. |
| Division 296 thresholds (super over $3 million and $10 million) | $3,000,000 and $10,000,000 | Inflation after retirement (the law uses CPI) | In $150,000 and $500,000 steps, rounded down, never falling. |
The two amounts before rounding are estimates from published figures (wages: $25,000 × 1.338, the November 2025 earnings figure over the November 2016 one; prices: $1.6m × the December 2025 consumer price index over December 2016). They only set when the first step after 2026–27 happens.
Amounts in the future are worth less than the same number of dollars today. PlanLens shows future amounts in today’s dollars by default; you can switch to future dollars (the actual dollar amounts in each year, not adjusted for inflation). The PDF report uses whichever you have chosen and says so on every page.
This is ASIC’s method for superannuation forecasts (ASIC Corporations (Superannuation Calculators and Retirement Estimates) Instrument 2022/603, as amended in 2024): 3.7% each year until retirement reflects long-term wage growth, and 2.5% each year from retirement is the midpoint of the Reserve Bank’s inflation target. You can change either rate. The plan uses the same two rates to grow your spending and other amounts, so an amount you enter in today’s dollars stays the same in today’s dollars. The same rates are used throughout the app. The same factor is applied to every amount in a year so that totals still add up. The plan itself always works in the actual dollars of each year. On a year’s transactions page in Strategy you choose which dollars you see and type in, with the same switch: in today’s dollars, $200,000 typed for 2035 is stored as $200,000 × the today’s dollars factor from today to the end of 2035; in 2035 dollars it is stored as typed. While you type, the amount in the other dollars is shown under the box. Contribution caps and other limits are set in the dollars of their year, so in today’s dollars they show as smaller amounts. The Strategy graphs show each account at the end of each year, after that year’s transactions, the same values as the year’s transactions page. In Plan Confidence the asset charts follow the Today's / Future dollars switch and the end-of-plan figures are also shown in today’s dollars.
These are the rules from tax, super and Centrelink that PlanLens and PensionLens apply, with the figures for 2026–27 (every figure is also listed in Rates and thresholds). Each figure was checked against the ATO, Services Australia, the Department of Social Services or the law on 14 October 2026. Later years move by the indexing assumptions you set (see Assumptions and indexing). The rules are simplified: the main things not modelled are listed under each heading.
The Age Pension is worked out each year with both means tests, and the lower result is paid. Figures are those set by Services Australia and the Department of Social Services.
| Rule | How the app applies it | 2026–27 |
|---|---|---|
| Age Pension age | From age 67, counted from the month of the birthday. | 67 |
| Maximum rate | Includes the pension supplement and energy supplement. | $1,237.70 a fortnight single ($32,180 a year); $1,866.00 a fortnight for a couple combined ($48,516 a year), from 20 September 2026 |
| Assets test: full pension limit | Assets over the limit reduce the pension. | Homeowner: $333,000 single, $499,000 couple. Non-homeowner: $600,000 single, $766,000 couple (from 1 July 2026) |
| Assets test: taper | The pension falls by $3 a fortnight for each $1,000 over the limit. | $78 a year per $1,000 |
| Assets counted | Super of anyone over Age Pension age (accumulation and pension); a pension account at any age; shares and cash (money in an offset account is part of cash); other property (not your home) less its loan; personal assets; lifetime annuities (see below). The home is not counted. | |
| Income test: free area | Income over the free area reduces the pension. | $226 a fortnight single ($5,876 a year); $396 a fortnight couple combined ($10,296 a year), from 1 July 2026 |
| Income test: taper | The pension falls by 50 cents for each $1 over the free area. | 50% |
| Deeming | Financial assets (shares, cash and counted super) are deemed to earn a set rate, whatever they actually earn. | 1.75% on the first $66,800 single or $110,600 couple combined, 3.75% above, from 20 September 2026 |
| Income counted | Deemed income; wages after the Work Bonus; rent (a rental loss counts as nil); other income; overseas pensions in full; defined benefit pensions less the deductible amount; 60% of lifetime annuity payments. | |
| Work Bonus | The first $300 a fortnight of work income is not counted; unused amounts build a bank that later work income uses first. Worked out yearly, and the bank stops growing in a year with no pension. | $300 a fortnight ($7,800 a year); bank up to $11,800 each |
| Couples | The couple’s combined pension is split equally. When only one partner is of Age Pension age, only that partner is paid, with the couple’s means counted. After the death of a partner the survivor is assessed as single. | |
| Home owner or not | The assets test limits follow the plan: selling the home moves you to the non-home owner limits from the next year, and buying one moves you back from the next year. | |
| Indexation | Rates and thresholds move each year by the Centrelink indexing assumption. The law indexes them each March, July and September; the app uses one yearly rate. | Your setting (default 2.5%) |
Not modelled: Rent Assistance, concession cards, gifting and deprivation, the granny flat rules, grandfathered income streams (bought before 1 January 2015), illness-separated couples, residence rules, aged care fees.
Each person’s tax is worked out each year on Australian resident rates, set by the ATO.
| Rule | How the app applies it | 2026–27 |
|---|---|---|
| Tax rates | Applied to taxable income each year. | Nil to $18,200; 15% to $45,000; 30% to $135,000; 37% to $190,000; 45% above. The 15% rate becomes 14% from 1 July 2027 (legislated). |
| Bracket thresholds in later years | The law sets them as fixed amounts. The app moves them by the Yearly rise in tax bracket thresholds setting (default 1% a year) to allow for occasional tax cuts. | Your setting |
| Low income tax offset (LITO) | Reduces tax for lower incomes. | $700, reducing by 5 cents per $1 from $37,500 to $45,000, then 1.5 cents per $1, nil from $66,667 |
| Seniors and pensioners tax offset (SAPTO) | From Age Pension age. For a couple it is worked out on combined income and shared. | Single $2,230, reducing from $36,034, nil from $53,874. Each member of a couple $1,602, reducing from $31,847, nil from $44,663. Taper 12.5 cents per $1. |
| Medicare levy | 2% of taxable income, phased in above the low-income thresholds. | Thresholds for 2025-26, the latest published at release: $44,268 to $55,335 with SAPTO; $28,011 to $35,013 otherwise |
| Medicare levy surcharge | Only when Private hospital cover (in People) is No. Extras-only cover does not count; the hospital policy’s excess must be $750 or less for one person, or $1,500 or less for a couple or family (ATO). When income for the surcharge is over the threshold, 1%, 1.25% or 1.5% of taxable income is added to tax. That income is taxable income plus any rental loss deducted. A couple are tested on their combined income against the family thresholds, and both pay (a partner whose own income is no more than the Medicare levy low-income threshold pays none). After a partner dies, the survivor is tested as a single. A capital gain counts, so a property sale can bring the surcharge in for that year. Each child after the first would raise the family threshold by $1,500; the plan has no children, so this is not used. | Single: $105,000 / $123,000 / $164,000. Couple (combined): $210,000 / $246,000 / $328,000. Above each: 1%, 1.25%, 1.5%. |
| Franking credits | Added to taxable income and refunded if they exceed the tax. | |
| What is taxed | Salary, interest, dividends with franking credits, rent (a rental loss reduces other taxable income, unless negative gearing is not allowed: see below), other income, overseas pensions (less any tax-free part), the Age Pension, the taxable part of defined benefit pensions and of annuities bought with cash, and net capital gains on property. Super pensions and lump sums from age 60 are tax-free. | |
| Deductions | The annual deductions you enter reduce taxable income. | |
| Rental losses (negative gearing) | For a property bought after 7:30pm on 12 May 2026 that is not a new build (untick “Negative gearing allowed” on the property), a rental loss can’t reduce other income from 2027–28. It is carried forward and used against later rental profits, then against capital gains when property is sold. | From 1 July 2027 |
Not modelled: HELP and other study debts, the private health insurance rebate, and other offsets.
Capital gains tax is worked out for other property (not your home) you have entered with a cost base and purchase date, when the plan sells it. The law changed from 1 July 2027 (Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026).
| Rule | How the app applies it | 2026–27 |
|---|---|---|
| Gains made before 1 July 2027 | A property held 12 months or more gets the 50% discount. | 50% |
| Gains made from 1 July 2027 | No discount. Instead the cost base is increased by inflation for a property held 12 months or more. | Inflation after retirement (the law uses CPI) |
| Property held at 1 July 2027 | The gain is split at its value on 1 July 2027: the earlier part under the old rules, the later part under the new. | |
| Minimum tax on gains from 1 July 2027 | Tax on the new-rules part of the gain is at least 30%. It does not apply in a year the person receives the Age Pension. | 30% |
| Capital losses | Offset against gains, then carried forward to later years. A loss reduces gains made before 1 July 2027 first, and gains without the discount before discounted gains. | |
| Planned property purchase | Treated as bought on 1 July of the year you enter, with the price as its cost base unless you enter a cost base. | |
| Your home | Not taxed (main residence). | |
| Inherited property: bought by the person who died before 20 September 1985, or their home just before they died (not rented out) | No tax if it is sold within 2 years of the death. Otherwise the gain is worked out from its value when they died. For example, inherited at $600,000 and sold later for $700,000 is a $100,000 gain. The month of death is not asked: a sale in the year of the inheritance or the next is within 2 years, three or more years later is not, and for a sale two years later you are asked. | 2 years |
| Inherited property: any other | The cost base of the person who died carries over to you, and the 12-month discount counts from when they bought it. An inherited property uses no cash, and it and its income count from the year after it is inherited. |
Not modelled: Capital gains tax on shares (the app does not know what you paid for them), the new-home choice, small business concessions, trusts and companies. For inherited property: living in it yourself after you inherit it, the ATO allowing more than 2 years, and a home the person who died partly rented out.
Contribution caps and taxes are set by the ATO. Caps after 2026-27 move in the steps the law uses.
| Rule | How the app applies it | 2026–27 |
|---|---|---|
| Super Guarantee | Paid on salary until the retirement month, up to the concessional cap. It continues after 75; only voluntary contributions stop at 75. | 12% of salary (your setting) |
| Concessional contributions | Employer and salary sacrifice contributions, taxed 15% in the fund. | Cap $32,500; later years rise with wages (AWOTE) in $2,500 steps |
| Carry-forward | Unused concessional cap from the last five years can be used if total super was under $500,000 at the previous 30 June. | $500,000 (not indexed) |
| Non-concessional contributions | After-tax contributions, no contributions tax. Up to three years’ cap can be brought forward, depending on total super. | Cap $130,000; bring-forward $390,000 under $1.84m, $260,000 under $1.97m, $130,000 under $2.1m, nil from $2.1m |
| Age limit | Voluntary contributions up to age 75. | 75 |
| Downsizer contributions | From the sale of a home, from age 55; not counted in the caps. Made in one financial year only, once for each person. | Up to $300,000 each |
| Contributions from shares | A contribution paid from shares outside super is a sale of those shares and a contribution in the same year. | |
| Deposit straight into a pension | A non-concessional contribution, so the non-concessional caps and the age limit apply. A new pension is started with it, within your transfer balance cap. | |
| Division 293 tax | Extra 15% on concessional contributions when income plus those contributions is over the threshold. | $250,000 (not indexed) |
Not modelled: The low income super tax offset, government co-contributions, the spouse contribution offset, the work test for personal deductible contributions from age 67, excess contributions tax, and contribution splitting.
How super is paid out once you can use it.
| Rule | How the app applies it | 2026–27 |
|---|---|---|
| Access | From the retirement date or the drawdown age you set; before 65 a pension cannot start before retirement. Transition to retirement is available from 60. | |
| Transfer balance cap | The most that can move into the tax-free pension phase. At the drawdown age the most your cap allows moves into pension, once; the rest stays in accumulation. Nothing is topped up automatically after that: later moves happen only when you enter them in Strategy. | $2.1 million; rises with inflation after retirement (the law uses CPI) in $100,000 steps |
| Transfer balance account | Money moved into a pension uses cap space. A lump sum taken out of a pension gives the same amount of cap space back; regular pension payments do not. | |
| Minimum pension payments | A share of the pension balance each year, by age; the first year is reduced for the months left. | Under 65: 4%; 65 to 74: 5%; 75 to 79: 6%; 80 to 84: 7%; 85 to 89: 9%; 90 to 94: 11%; 95 and over: 14% |
| Paying for spending | After other income, pensions pay what spending still needs, shared between partners’ pensions. Then accumulation (once the pension runs out), then cash, then shares. | |
| Tax in the fund | Industry and retail fund returns are entered after fees and tax. For SMSF and direct investments the app taxes income (dividends) at 15% in accumulation and nil in pension phase; growth in value is not taxed (no capital gains tax inside super). | 15% / nil |
| Division 296 tax | An extra 15% on the part of each person’s super earnings that matches the part of their total super (accumulation and pension) over $3 million, and a further 10% on the part over $10 million. Earnings are the dividends and franking credits on the balance at the start of the year, from the dividend yield and franking assumptions. An industry or retail fund’s return has no dividend part, so the same yield is used for it. Rises in value are not counted. Paid from super. | $3 million and $10 million; rise with inflation in $150,000 and $500,000 steps |
| Transition to retirement | From 60, 4% to 10% of the accumulation balance a year until retirement or 65; tax-free payments. The money stays in accumulation, so its earnings are still taxed at 15% and no transfer balance cap is used. | 4% to 10% |
| Death of a partner | The survivor receives the super as a pension (within their transfer balance cap) or as cash, and is single from that year. The deceased’s contributions stop, and the survivor makes the loan repayments. Spending stays at the budget you set: there is no automatic drop for a single household, so lower it yourself if you expect to spend less. | |
| Several super accounts | Each account grows at its own return. Contributions go only to the account you chose. Pension payments come out of each member’s accounts in proportion to each account’s pension balance. |
Not modelled: Fees as a separate amount (they are in the return you enter), insurance in super, and tax on death benefits paid to people who are not dependants.
Pensions from defined benefit schemes (for example public sector and military schemes).
| Rule | How the app applies it | 2026–27 |
|---|---|---|
| Tax from age 60 | The tax-free and taxed parts are tax-free up to the defined benefit income cap; half of any excess is taxable. The untaxed part is taxable with a 10% tax offset within the cap. | Income cap $131,250 (the transfer balance cap divided by 16) |
| Tax under 60 | The taxed and untaxed parts are taxable. | |
| Transfer balance cap | A credit of 16 times the yearly pension when it starts. | 16 times |
| Age Pension income test | The payment less the deductible amount. The deduction is limited to 10% of the payment, except for military schemes (DFRDB, MilitarySuper, DFRB). | 10% |
| Age Pension assets test | Not counted. | |
| Indexation and reversion | The amount you enter grows with inflation until the pension starts; from then it is indexed by inflation, a fixed rate or not at all. A reversionary share is paid to the survivor. |
Lifetime annuities you hold or buy in the plan.
| Rule | How the app applies it | 2026–27 |
|---|---|---|
| Age Pension assets test | 60% of the purchase price until the later of age 84 or five years after purchase, then 30%. | 60% / 30% |
| Age Pension income test | 60% of each payment; annuities are not deemed. | 60% |
| Tax | Bought with super: tax-free from 60. Bought with your own money: each payment less the deductible amount is taxable. | |
| Reversion | A joint annuity, or the reversionary share you set, continues to the survivor. | |
| Buying one in the plan | Bought from super, it is a rollover, not a payment to you: from the pension account first, then accumulation within your transfer balance cap. The amount you enter, in today’s dollars, grows with inflation to the year it is bought. |
Not modelled: Annuity rates are illustrations you choose; real rates depend on age, provider and interest rates. The survivor’s transfer balance credit for a reversionary annuity is not modelled.
Pensions from overseas you enter, from the age you set.
| Rule | How the app applies it | 2026–27 |
|---|---|---|
| Age Pension income test | Counted in full. | |
| Tax | Taxed in Australia, except the tax-free part you enter (the ATO’s deductible amount, for example 8% of a UK State Pension). | |
| Indexation | Indexed by inflation or held fixed, as you choose. Held fixed, it stays at today’s amount from now, including before it starts. |
Not modelled: Tax treaties that exempt some overseas pensions, foreign tax offsets and exchange rate changes.
| Rule | How the app applies it | 2026–27 |
|---|---|---|
| Home | Not counted for the Age Pension and not taxed. Selling it can fund a downsizer contribution; after selling, the rent you enter (in today’s dollars) is paid and grows with inflation. | |
| Other property (not your home) | Rent and value grow at your rates. Rent is taxed as you enter it (net of costs). | |
| Loans | Repaid monthly at the rate you enter; money in a linked offset account reduces the interest. Money moved in or out of an offset account counts from the next year (every transaction happens at the end of the year). The repayment you enter stays the same every year (it is not indexed). | |
| Cash accounts | Each account earns its own interest rate. Spending comes out of transaction accounts first, then savings accounts, lowest interest rate first. Offset accounts earn no interest and are never used for spending. So the cash charts show the cash you can spend, not counting offset accounts; offset money is shown with its loan, and still counts in your financial assets, net worth and the means tests. Balances on the main page are at the start of each year; the Strategy tab and its year page show the end of each year. | |
| Shares outside super | Dividends with franking credits; sold last to pay for spending. |
Sources: ATO (tax rates, offsets, Medicare levy, super caps and the transfer balance cap); Services Australia and the Department of Social Services (Age Pension rates, means test thresholds, deeming, Work Bonus, Social Security Guide); the Federal Register of Legislation (the 2026 capital gains tax and super tax laws).
Every rate, cap and threshold set by law that the app uses, for 2026–27. These are the exact figures in the calculations. How each one moves in later years is in What is indexed by what; how each rule works is in Rules.
Rates from 20 September 2026; means test limits from 1 July 2026. A couple’s figures are combined.
| Item | 2026–27 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Payment | ||
| Age Pension age | 67 | |
| Maximum rate, single, a fortnight | $1,237.70 | Includes the pension supplement and energy supplement |
| Maximum rate, single, a year | $32,180.20 | 26 fortnights |
| Maximum rate, couple combined, a fortnight | $1,866.00 | |
| Maximum rate, couple combined, a year | $48,516.00 | 26 fortnights |
| Assets test | ||
| Full pension limit, single home owner | $333,000 | Assets above this reduce the pension |
| Full pension limit, couple home owners | $499,000 | |
| Full pension limit, single non-home owner | $600,000 | |
| Full pension limit, couple non-home owners | $766,000 | |
| Part pension cut-off, single home owner | $745,750 | No pension above this |
| Part pension cut-off, couple home owners | $1,121,000 | |
| Part pension cut-off, single non-home owner | $1,012,750 | |
| Part pension cut-off, couple non-home owners | $1,388,000 | |
| Taper, a fortnight for each $1,000 over the limit | $3 | $78 a year |
| Income test | ||
| Free area, single, a year | $5,876 | $226 a fortnight |
| Free area, couple combined, a year | $10,296 | $396 a fortnight |
| Part pension cut-off, single, a year | $70,236.40 | $2,701.40 a fortnight; worked out from the free area, maximum rate and taper |
| Part pension cut-off, couple combined, a year | $107,328 | $4,128.00 a fortnight |
| Taper | 50% | 50 cents for each $1 over the free area |
| Deeming | ||
| Lower rate | 1.75% | From 20 September 2026 |
| Higher rate | 3.75% | |
| Lower rate applies up to, single | $66,800 | |
| Lower rate applies up to, couple combined | $110,600 | |
| Work Bonus | ||
| Work Bonus, a year | $7,800 | $300 a fortnight |
| Work Bonus bank, most it can hold | $11,800 | Each person |
| Income streams | ||
| Lifetime annuity: share of payments counted (income test) | 60% | Not deemed |
| Lifetime annuity: share of price counted (assets test), early years | 60% | Until the later of age 84 or 5 years after purchase |
| Lifetime annuity: share of price counted (assets test), later | 30% | |
| Lifetime annuity: age the assets test share falls | 84 | |
| Defined benefit pension: most of the payment that can be deducted | 10% | Not for military schemes (DFRDB, MilitarySuper, DFRB) |
Source: Services Australia and the Department of Social Services (Social Security Guide), checked 14 October 2026.
Australian resident rates.
| Item | 2026–27 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tax rates | ||
| Nil up to | $18,200 | |
| 15% from $18,201 to | $45,000 | 14% from 1 July 2027 (legislated) |
| 30% from $45,001 to | $135,000 | |
| 37% from $135,001 to | $190,000 | |
| 45% above | $190,000 | |
| Low income tax offset (LITO) | ||
| Full offset | $700 | |
| Starts reducing above | $37,500 | By 5 cents per $1 |
| Reduces faster above | $45,000 | By 1.5 cents per $1 |
| Nil from | $66,667 | |
| Seniors and pensioners tax offset (SAPTO) | ||
| Full offset, single | $2,230 | |
| Starts reducing above, single | $36,034 | By 12.5 cents per $1 |
| Nil from, single | $53,874 | |
| Full offset, couple combined | $3,204 | $1,602 each |
| Starts reducing above, couple combined income | $63,694 | $31,847 each |
| Nil from, couple combined income | $89,326 | $44,663 each |
| Taper | 12.5% | |
| Medicare levy | ||
| Levy | 2% | Of taxable income |
| Starts phasing in above, with SAPTO | $44,268 | 2025–26 thresholds, the latest published |
| Full levy from, with SAPTO | $55,335 | |
| Starts phasing in above, others | $28,011 | |
| Full levy from, others | $35,013 | |
| Medicare levy surcharge (no private hospital cover) | ||
| 1% from income above, single | $105,000 | Couple: double, on combined income |
| 1.25% from income above, single | $123,000 | |
| 1.5% from income above, single | $164,000 | |
| Rate, tier 1 | 1% | Of taxable income |
| Rate, tier 2 | 1.25% | |
| Rate, tier 3 | 1.5% | |
| Capital gains on investment property | ||
| Discount on gains made before 1 July 2027 | 50% | Property held 12 months or more |
| Minimum tax on gains made from 1 July 2027 | 30% | Not in a year the person receives the Age Pension |
Source: ATO, checked 14 October 2026 (the Medicare levy surcharge 18 October 2026); Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026.
Caps for 2026–27. Later years move in the steps the law uses (see What is indexed by what).
| Item | 2026–27 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Concessional (before tax) | ||
| Super Guarantee rate | 12% | Of salary; your setting |
| Concessional cap | $32,500 | Includes the Super Guarantee |
| Contributions tax in the fund | 15% | |
| Carry-forward: total super must be under | $500,000 | At the previous 30 June |
| Carry-forward: years unused cap is kept | 5 | |
| Division 293: income plus contributions over | $250,000 | Extra 15% on the concessional contributions over it |
| Past concessional caps (for carry-forward) | ||
| 2021–22 | $27,500 | |
| 2022–23 | $27,500 | |
| 2023–24 | $27,500 | |
| 2024–25 | $30,000 | |
| 2025–26 | $30,000 | |
| Non-concessional (after tax) | ||
| Non-concessional cap | $130,000 | 4 times the concessional cap |
| Bring forward 3 years ($390,000): total super under | $1,840,000 | |
| Bring forward 2 years ($260,000): total super under | $1,970,000 | |
| One year’s cap only: total super under | $2,100,000 | Nil from this balance |
| Other | ||
| Voluntary contributions: last age | 75 | |
| Downsizer contribution: from age | 55 | |
| Downsizer contribution: most each | $300,000 | Once, from the sale of a home |
Source: ATO, checked 14 October 2026.
Caps, minimum payments and tax once super is used for income.
| Item | 2026–27 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Access and caps | ||
| Transition to retirement: from age | 60 | |
| Transition to retirement: yearly payments | 4% to 10% | Of the accumulation balance |
| General transfer balance cap | $2,100,000 | |
| Defined benefit income cap | $131,250 | The transfer balance cap ÷ 16 |
| Defined benefit pension: transfer balance credit | 16 times | The yearly pension |
| Minimum pension payments (a share of the balance) | ||
| Under 65 | 4% | |
| 65 to 74 | 5% | |
| 75 to 79 | 6% | |
| 80 to 84 | 7% | |
| 85 to 89 | 9% | |
| 90 to 94 | 11% | |
| 95 and over | 14% | |
| Tax in the fund | ||
| Accumulation | 15% | On SMSF and direct investment income; industry and retail returns are entered after tax |
| Pension phase | Nil | |
| Division 296: extra tax on earnings for super over | $3,000,000 | 15% |
| Division 296: further tax on earnings for super over | $10,000,000 | A further 10% |
Source: ATO, checked 14 October 2026; Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Act 2026.
Plan Confidence runs the full PlanLens model many times with returns drawn at random around the averages and volatility you set (Monte Carlo simulation). The percentage shown is the share of simulated paths in which the spending target is met in every year. It is not the probability that your plan will succeed: the simulated paths assume returns behave in a particular statistical way, and real markets, rules and lives do not.