Superannuation Calculator Australia 2026: SG Rate 12%, Caps, and Worked Examples

The Superannuation Guarantee rate is 12% from July 1, 2025 onwards. This is the full and final rate under current legislation — no further scheduled increases beyond 12%. Every Australian employer must contribute 12% of an eligible employee's ordinary time earnings (OTE) to their nominated super fund, on top of their wages. For a $90,000 salary, that is $10,800 a year of mandatory employer super contributions.

The 2025-26 concessional contribution cap is $30,000, raised from $27,500 in 2024-25. This cap covers all pre-tax contributions to super: employer SG, salary sacrifice, and any personal contributions you claim as a tax deduction. Concessional contributions are taxed at 15% inside the super fund (or 30% if your total income exceeds $250,000 under Division 293 tax). Exceeding the cap triggers Division 293 type extra tax plus interest charges.

The non-concessional cap for 2025-26 is $120,000 a year. Non-concessional contributions are after-tax money you put into super yourself — they are not taxed inside the fund because tax was already paid on the income. Anyone under 75 can use the bring-forward rule to contribute up to $360,000 in a single year (3 years of caps in advance), provided their total super balance is under $1.66 million and they have not used bring-forward in the past 2 years.

ASFA (Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia) publishes benchmark balances each quarter. As a rough guide: $50,000 by age 30, $130,000 by age 40, $260,000 by age 50, $430,000 by age 60, and $595,000 by age 67 for a comfortable single retirement (or $690,000 for a comfortable couple). These assume you also own your home outright and qualify for some Age Pension. The ASFA Comfortable Standard is about $52,085 a year for a single and $73,337 for a couple in retirement.

Yes, in three ways: 1) Salary sacrifice through your employer (counts toward the $30,000 concessional cap). 2) Personal deductible contributions you claim on your tax return (also counts toward concessional cap). 3) Personal after-tax contributions (counts toward $120,000 non-concessional cap, no deduction). Most workers benefit most from maxing concessional contributions first because of the 15% vs marginal-rate tax saving. Anyone earning $45,000-$135,000 saves 15 percentage points of tax on every dollar salary sacrificed.

You can normally access your super only when you reach "preservation age" (currently 60 for everyone born after July 1, 1964) AND you have either retired permanently or reached age 65. Limited early access is allowed in cases of severe financial hardship, terminal illness, permanent disability, or specific compassionate grounds (medical treatment, funeral costs, mortgage default to prevent home loss). The First Home Super Saver scheme also lets first home buyers access up to $50,000 of voluntary contributions for a deposit.

Yes, but at concessional rates. Investment returns inside an accumulation phase super fund are taxed at 15% — much lower than personal marginal rates. Capital gains on assets held longer than 12 months get a one-third discount, making the effective rate 10%. Once you move into the retirement (pension) phase, investment returns are tax-free up to a transfer balance cap of $2 million (2025-26), one of the largest tax breaks in the Australian tax system. This is why super is the most tax-effective retirement vehicle for most Australians.

Generally one. Multiple super accounts mean paying multiple sets of fees and multiple insurance premiums, which dramatically erode your balance over time. The ATO's "stapling" rule (since November 2021) automatically follows your existing super account when you change jobs unless you actively choose a new fund. Use the ATO's online services through myGov to find any lost super accounts and consolidate them into your preferred fund. Before consolidating, check that you are not losing valuable insurance cover that would be hard to replace.