Super Balance Projection Calculator
Updated for FY2025-26
Project your super balance forward to retirement. Set your salary and voluntary contributions, and see what your super lands at by 60, 65, and 75. Built for Australian super rules: applies the SG rate, MSCB cap, and 15% concessional contributions tax automatically.
+ SG $10,800 = $15,800 total CC (cap $30,000)
Super Balance Projection
Your super at 65: $1.92M ($916k in today's dollars)
- Balance at 60
- $1.31M
- $708,142 today
- Balance at 65
- $1.92M
- $915,937 today
- Balance at 75
- $3.78M
- $1.41M today
This year's contributions
What if you saved more?
$10,000/yr voluntary
+$415,272 at 65
$15,000/yr voluntary
+$830,543 at 65
This calculator projects super only, holds your salary flat, and applies a uniform return rate. The full ProjectFi planner adds salary growth, life events, partner balances, Monte Carlo sensitivity, drawdown strategies, and the Age Pension on top. Try the full planner
How super balance projection works
Australian super is a long-running compounding account. Every year your employer contributes Superannuation Guarantee (SG, 12% of your gross salary up to the MSCB cap), you can add voluntary salary-sacrifice contributions on top, the fund deducts 15% contributions tax on the way in, then everything compounds at whatever return rate the fund achieves net of fees and earnings tax.
This calculator runs that math year by year from your current age to age 75. Phase one (current age to retirement age) flows contributions in; phase two (retirement age to 75) stops contributions and lets the balance compound on its own. The result is a single trajectory you can read off at any age.
The 15% tax wedge on contributions
Concessional contributions (SG, salary sacrifice, personal deductible) are taxed at 15% inside super before they hit your balance. So a $30,000 gross contribution becomes $25,500 in the fund. This calculator applies the wedge so the projection reflects what actually compounds, not the headline contribution amount.
The 15% concessional rate is the *headline* attraction of super: it's well below most working Australians' marginal tax rate (32% to 47%), so dollars routed through super arrive in the fund with more of them intact than dollars taken as take-home pay. That's the entire point of the salary-sacrifice strategy.
The MSCB cap on employer SG
Employer SG is only mandated up to the Maximum Super Contribution Base. For FY2025-26 that's $62,500 per quarter, capping SG at roughly $30,000 per year regardless of salary. Someone earning $300,000 doesn't get $36,000 of SG; they get $30,000 (the cap). From FY2026-27 the MSCB switches to an annual figure of $270,830 under the Payday Super Act 2025.
The calculator applies the active-FY MSCB so high-income earners see the realistic SG figure, not the simple 12% × salary calculation.
Worked example
Sam is 35 with $80,000 in super, on $90,000 salary, contributing $5,000 a year in salary sacrifice. Employer SG at 12% is $10,800. Total concessional contributions: $15,800 (well under the $30,000 cap). After the 15% concessional tax, $13,430 lands in super each year.
Compounding $80,000 forward at 7% net return over 30 years, plus $13,430 a year of net contributions, gets Sam to about $1.92 million at age 65 (around $916,000 in today's dollars after 30 years of 2.5% inflation). At 75 (no contributions for 10 years), the balance compounds to roughly $3.78 million nominal.
Sources and references
Australian Superannuation Guarantee rate and MSCB: ATO key super rates and thresholds. Concessional contributions cap and contributions tax: ATO concessional contributions cap. Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth) Subdivision 291-A.
Want the projection refined with salary growth, partner balances, life events, Monte Carlo sensitivity, and the drawdown phase? The ProjectFi planner takes you all the way to a year-by-year FIRE plan.
FAQ
- How does this calculator project my super?
- It compounds your current balance forward at the expected return rate, adds your annual contributions (employer SG plus voluntary salary sacrifice, less the 15% concessional contributions tax), and shows the result year by year. Mid-year contribution timing is built in. Once you reach your target retirement age, contributions stop and the balance keeps compounding to age 75 so you can see the full post-retirement tail.
- Why does the calculator apply 15% to my contributions?
- Concessional contributions (employer SG, salary sacrifice, personal deductible) are taxed at 15% inside super on the way in. The calculator deducts this so the balance projection reflects what actually compounds in the fund, not the gross contribution amount. For high-income earners (over $250,000), Division 293 adds another 15% on top, modelled in the separate Division 293 Calculator.
- What's the concessional contribution cap and what happens if I exceed it?
- For FY2025-26 the cap is $30,000 across all concessional contributions (SG plus salary sacrifice plus personal deductible). Going over triggers excess contributions tax: the excess is added to your taxable income and taxed at your marginal rate, with a 15% offset for the contributions tax already paid. The Concessional Super Cap Calculator covers this in detail, including the carry-forward rules for unused cap from prior years.
- Why does the SG amount cap at high salaries?
- Employers are only required to pay SG on income up to the Maximum Super Contribution Base (MSCB). For FY2025-26 the MSCB is $62,500 per quarter, capping employer SG at roughly $30,000 per year regardless of how high the salary goes. The calculator applies this cap automatically. From FY2026-27 the MSCB switches to an annual figure under the Payday Super Act 2025.
- What does "today's dollars" mean for the future balance?
- The headline future-dollar number is what you'll see on your super statement at the milestone age. The today-dollar figure discounts that back at 2.5% inflation so you can see the equivalent purchasing power right now. A $2 million super balance at 65 is roughly $1 million in today's dollars over 30 years.
- Why doesn't this match the projection in my super-fund app?
- Super-fund apps typically apply assumptions about salary growth, contribution increases, and fees. This calculator holds salary flat (no growth), assumes the return rate you enter is already net of fees and earnings tax, and ignores insurance premiums deducted from your balance. Pick a return rate that reflects your fund's historical net performance (typically 6.5%-7.0% for a balanced industry-super fund) for the most realistic projection.
- What does this calculator NOT model?
- Salary growth over time. Investment fees (subtract these from your expected return rate to approximate). Earnings tax inside super (15% on accumulation phase): the slider is "after fund tax + fees", so pick a net return. Insurance premiums. Carry-forward unused concessional cap (handled by the Concessional Super Cap Calculator). Division 293 tax (handled by the Div 293 Calculator). Multiple super accounts or fund changes mid-career. Partner balances. Couple-level optimisation. The Age Pension. The drawdown phase. The full ProjectFi planner models all of these.
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