Retirement income

Turn lifestyle goals into practical income targets.

Pension Pilot helps separate early retirement spending, later-life income, other assessable income, pension income and super drawdowns into one clearer picture.

Income bands

Model different income targets for early pension-age years, middle retirement and later life instead of assuming one flat number forever.

Actual income

Compare target income with other income, employment income, Age Pension estimate and super drawdown pressure year by year.

Adviser-ready questions

The report is designed to show what needs checking, including assumptions, timing, tax, Centrelink treatment and drawdown choices.

Why income planning matters

Retirement income is rarely one clean number. Spending can be higher in active years, lower later, then affected again by health, family, travel, home costs or aged-care decisions.

  • Separate household spending from each person’s super position
  • Show when income gaps start to appear
  • Flag when Age Pension assumptions need official checking
  • Keep the explanation plain enough to discuss with family or an adviser

Build an income picture before buying a report.

1. Start with spending

Separate essential spending, flexible lifestyle costs and one-off goals. The report is more useful when the income target is realistic.

2. Add known income

Include employment income, investment income, super income streams and other assessable income in the years they are expected to apply.

3. Check the gap

The useful output is the gap between target income and expected income, then whether super drawdown pressure looks manageable under the assumptions.

Related guides and next steps.

Use the education pages to pressure-test your assumptions, then move into the Pension Pilot report when you want the household inputs pulled into one plain-English PDF.

Official source

For an independent view of how much income you may need in retirement, see MoneySmart’s guide to working out how much you need to retire.

Apply this to your own retirement

Pension Pilot turns your super balance, spending and retirement timing into a year-by-year projection, including the years between stopping work and Age Pension age.

Start your retirement plan · See a sample report · Get the $9.95 report

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