What Is the Australian Super Guarantee Rate in 2025–26?
The Super Guarantee (SG) rate has been permanently set at 12% from 1 July 2025 — the final step in the legislated schedule that began at 9.5% in 2014. Every employer must contribute 12% of your ordinary time earnings into your super fund each pay period. The maximum contribution base for 2025–26 is $62,500 per quarter, meaning SG is not required on earnings above this threshold. You can verify your entitlement using the salary-to-hourly calculator to understand your ordinary time earnings breakdown.
How Much Super Will I Have When I Retire?
Your projected balance depends on four variables: your current balance, your annual salary, the investment return, and the number of years until you reach age 67 (the standard retirement age aligned with the Age Pension). The standard projection formula applies compound growth each year: Balance = (Previous Balance × (1 + r)) + Annual Contributions, where r is the annual net investment return. ASIC's MoneySmart default is 7.5% gross return. ASFA benchmarks suggest a comfortable single-person retirement requires roughly $630,000 — this calculator shows whether your current trajectory reaches that threshold.
How Do You Calculate Superannuation Contributions?
Annual employer contributions = Annual Salary × SG Rate. At a $90,000 salary with a 12% SG rate: $90,000 × 0.12 = $10,800 per year. Add voluntary salary-sacrifice contributions on top. Concessional (before-tax) contributions — including employer SG and salary sacrifice combined — are capped at $30,000 per year for 2025–26. For comparison, see how compound growth affects any investment over time using the same underlying compounding logic.
Does Super Come Out of My Salary or Is It Paid on Top?
For most employees, super is paid on top of your salary — it is an additional employer obligation, not deducted from your take-home pay. For example, at a $80,000 salary, your employer pays you $80,000 plus $9,600 in super. However, some contracts express salary as a "total package" (CTC) that includes super — in this case, your cash pay is effectively $80,000 ÷ 1.12 = $71,429 and super takes the rest. Always check whether your salary offer is exclusive or inclusive of super before accepting.
What Is the Difference Between Concessional and Non-Concessional Contributions?
Concessional contributions (before-tax) include employer SG payments and salary-sacrifice contributions. They are taxed at 15% inside the fund (or 30% for incomes above $250,000 under Division 293 tax). The 2025–26 cap is $30,000 per year. Non-concessional contributions (after-tax) are personal contributions from your take-home pay — no tax applies inside the fund because you already paid income tax. The 2025–26 cap is $120,000 per year (or up to $360,000 over three years under the bring-forward rule, if your total super balance is below $1.9 million).
What If My Employer Hasn't Been Paying My Super?
Approximately $5.1 billion in super goes unpaid by Australian employers each year — affecting roughly one in three workers. To check: log in to your super fund and compare the deposits against your payslips. If contributions are missing, raise it with your employer first. If unresolved, report it to the ATO via the "unpaid super" online form — the ATO has the power to recover unpaid super on your behalf and impose significant penalties on non-compliant employers. The upcoming Payday Super rule (from 1 July 2026) will require employers to pay SG with every paycheck rather than quarterly, making unpaid super far easier to detect early.
How Does the Age Pension Affect My Retirement Income?
The Australian Age Pension is means-tested — both an income test and an assets test apply. A single homeowner with assets below $321,500 (2025–26) qualifies for the full Age Pension of approximately $31,223 per year; above $722,000 in assets, the pension cuts out entirely. This means a super balance below ~$300,000 may be substantially supplemented by the Age Pension, and your combined income (pension + super drawdown) could still fund a modest lifestyle. Run your current trajectory through a loan or financial obligation calculator to factor any mortgage repayments into your net retirement position.