The Dashboard Balance Projector has been developed as a static retirement estimate tool as defined by ASIC Regulatory Guide 276: Superannuation forecasts: Calculators and retirement estimates.

Assumptions Used

The estimated retirement balance is calculated using the following assumptions:

• adjusted contributions are accumulated for the period between your current age to an assumed retirement age of 67 (which is reasonable because this is the current statutory retirement age)
• adjusted contributions are derived based on a salary provided to us or derived for the purpose of the calculation based on contributions received on your behalf over the past 12 months (see below for the impact of this significant limitation on the estimate)
• adjusted contributions are derived by increasing your contributions annually during the period of the calculation based on wage inflation of 4% per annum and the current Super Guarantee Contribution (SGC) rate up to a maximum of 12% per annum
• adjusted contributions are derived by deducting amounts for administration fees and insurance premiums (explained further below)
• investment earnings are accumulated based on investing your balance according to your current investment options and using the rates of return in the table below
• it is assumed that your existing investment options are held for the whole period.

The amounts are presented in today’s dollars and rounded to the nearest three significant figures. When an amount is expressed in today’s dollars, it means the result has been adjusted for inflation (the rising cost of living) and for the cost of rising community living standards. The calculator uses the wage growth as a reasonable proxy for this rise in cost of living and living standards over time.

Investment rates of return

TelstraSuper Investment Option	Pension Rates Used Per Annum	Accumulation Rates Used per Annum
High Growth	9.22%	8.15%
Growth	9.12%	8.12%
Balanced	8.76%	7.70%
Moderate	8.13%	7.01%
Conservative	7.12%	6.14%
Cash	4.39%	3.73%
Diversified Bonds and Credit	5.53%	4.72%
Property	8.08%	7.05%
Australian Shares	9.10%	7.93%
International Shares	8.77%	7.88%
MySuper*	*	*

*The MySuper investment risk option utilises the ‘Growth’ rates of return for users under the age of 50, ‘Balanced’ rates of return for users aged 50 to under 65, ‘Moderate’ rates of return for users aged 65 to under 70 and ‘Conservative’ rates of return for users aged 70 and over.

*The MySuper investment option is not available to already retired users.

• The underlying simulated returns for each investment option have been determined based on advice and modelling received from Towers Watson Australia Pty Ltd ABN 45 002 415 349 on 7 June 2023.
• Investment return characteristics shown above are net of applicable investment tax and investment fees (separate to administration fees).
• Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance because actual returns may vary significantly from year to year and could be negative in some years, particularly for investment allocations to growth assets, such as shares and property.

Signification limitation of derived salary calculation and impacts

You should be aware that:

• not all employers make regular SG contributions. Some make fortnightly, others make monthly or quarterly. Some others have irregular frequencies – sometimes they make monthly and at other times they make quarterly
• new members without a known salary on file may have received only a few SG contributions in the 12-month period
• members may have changed salaries during the period from the salary that has been advised to the Trustee
• the maximum salary amount is $230,000 representing the concessional cap limit of $30,000 at 12% SGC.

These limitations may lead to a derived salary figure which is inconsistent with your actual salary. Also, additional non-concessional contributions, personal deductible contributions or spouse contributions are not included in the calculation of the balance estimate.

All these limitations can have the effect of skewing the calculated amount and giving an inaccurate result.

Insurance Premiums are based on the past 12 months of your insurance premiums. These are assumed to continue at the same rate until the assumed retirement age of 67 which is a reasonable assumption because it will have a conservative effect on the calculation. A limitation of modelled insurance premiums is that the maximum value used in the calculation is limited to the value of the super guarantee contribution. It is recommended that, if your insurance premiums exceed your super guarantee contributions, you speak to a financial planner regarding the impact on your long term superannuation balance and retirement.

Administration fees of $52 per annum plus 0.16% of your superannuation balance have been applied up to a maximum of $1,652 per annum. These are considered reasonable assumptions as they are the rates applicable generally for a TelstraSuper membership and this estimate is for TelstraSuper members.

Fortnightly and Annual Income Calculation - The regular fortnightly income calculation is based on a drawdown period between age 67 and age 92. The annual income calculation is the fortnightly income calculation multiplied by 26. It assumes you retire at age 67 and begin drawing down the projected balance to zero in fortnightly payments until you are age 92. It assumes you are continually invested in your investment options (using the investment rates of return as detailed in the table above) and deflates the figure in the retirement phase at the statutory inflation rate of 2.5% back to today’s dollars. This does not incorporate any Government Age Pension you may be entitled to and the income is solely based on an estimate of your projected superannuation balance. The fortnightly income comparison used is the ASFA Retirement Standard for a Comfortable Lifestyle of $1,986 per fortnight for a single person aged around 65 (as at March quarter 2024).

Eligibility – the following user groups are not eligible to use the Dashboard Balance Projector:

• Transition to Retirement accounts
• Term Allocated Pension accounts
• Defined Benefit accounts
• Accounts with DirectAccess holdings
• Multiple accounts
• Balance over $1.5 million
• Members who have not received a contribution within the current financial year
• Members with a total accumulation balance under $6,000 or over $1.5 million
• Members with an Account-Based Pension, Lifetime Pension or Retirement Income Stream (broadly, those in the retirement phase)
• Members aged 60 years or older

The estimate does not take into account any other superannuation you have in another fund, or contributions other than compulsory concessional contributions. There are Government-imposed limits on contributions that can be made into super for tax purposes. No ‘catch-up contributions’ or ‘bring forward contributions’ incentives have been considered.

The results produced by the projector remain illustrative only as the projector does not take into account all your personal circumstances, including your current lifestyle expenses, other financial commitments like debts, or other needs and objectives. As the estimate is not a guaranteed outcome, you should consider seeking financial advice before making any financial decisions. 

Should you wish to model a specific circumstance or change the assumptions used in this calculation, we recommend you use our Retirement Lifestyle Planner.