Yes, you can withdraw your super when leaving Australia, but only if you were on a temporary visa, not if you are an Australian/New Zealand citizen or permanent resident. Temporary residents can claim a Departing Australia Superannuation Payment (DASP) after leaving and their visa expires. Others must wait until they meet standard retirement conditions.
If you're a temporary resident, you can claim your superannuation when you leave. If you earned super while living and working in Australia, you can apply to have your super paid out as a Departing Australia Superannuation Payment (DASP) when you leave.
You can access your super: From age 60: If you're retired or leave a job. You can also open a Transition to Retirement account to access some of your super while you're still working. From age 65: Whether you're still working or not.
However, temporary residents are able to access their super if they're moving away from Australia and aren't planning on returning. Applying through your super fund and providing proof of you temporary visa and departure plans should be ample proof for you to be able to cash out out your superannuation payments.
If you've worked in Australia on a temporary resident visa, you can claim your super when you permanently leave the country — this is called a Departing Australia superannuation payment (DASP).
The bring-forward rule enables you to accelerate your super contributions by using up to three years' worth of non-concessional (after-tax) contributions caps in a single year. This means you could contribute up to three times the annual limit in one go, or spread your contribution out over two to three years.
If you have superannuation in Australia, even from temporary work, that account remains when you move overseas.
Make a partial or full withdrawal
You can withdraw some or all your super savings to your nominated bank account. The fastest way for you to make a partial withdrawal is by logging into your account online and going to Transactions. Or complete this form to make a full withdrawal.
The minimum amount that can be withdrawn is $1,000 and the maximum is $10,000. If your super balance is less than $1,000 you can withdraw up to your remaining balance after tax. You can only make one withdrawal in any 12-month period.
The age at which you can access your super. This is between 55 and 60, depending on when you were born. You must also meet a condition of release. You pay 22% (including the Medicare levy) or your marginal tax rate, whichever is lower.
A lump sum withdrawal is a cash payment from your super savings to your bank account. You can request to withdraw a lump sum from your accumulation (Future Saver) account if you've met certain conditions set by the Government.
Retiring at 60 with $500,000 in super is possible but challenging, depending heavily on your spending, lifestyle, and if you qualify for the Australian Age Pension. You might cover modest expenses using strategies like drawing down around $20,000 annually (using the 4% rule as a guide) plus other income, but it requires careful budgeting, potentially part-time work, and reducing living costs. A financial advisor can help tailor a plan, as $500k alone usually supports a basic to moderate retirement, not a lavish one.
If you move abroad, you can usually still claim all your pensions – including the State Pension. But it often changes how your pensions are taxed. Here's what you need to know.
Are there fees for changing super funds? Super funds aren't allowed to charge exit fees when you leave. But some funds have tax impacts or other fees when you make the switch. Such as a buy/sell spread fee when they cash out your investment.
Most banks in Australia will permit you to keep your account as a foreign non-resident.
If you earn super while working in Australia on a temporary visa, you can apply to claim your super back when you leave Australia. This is called a Departing Australia Superannuation Payment (DASP). you've left Australia and you don't hold another active Australian visa. you hold another active Australian visa.
Once we receive your correctly completed application form and certified documents, it will usually take around 3 business days for your withdrawal amount to be transferred to your bank account. Read this section if you choose to attach paper copies of certified documentation to provide proof of your identity.
We'll review it and make a payment to your bank within 5 business days. If we have your mobile number, we'll text you to confirm we've made the payment. Your bank may take another 2-3 days to allocate the money to your account.
Claiming Age Pension when you live overseas
If you live in a country that has a social security agreement with us, you can claim an Australian payment from there. You'll have to meet all the qualification rules to be eligible for Age Pension.
Passenger Movement Charge (PMC) The Passenger Movement Charge (PMC) is an AUD70 cost for the departure of a person from Australia to another country regardless of whether the person returns to Australia.
If you get NZ Super or Veteran's Pension and plan to live overseas, you can't get these payments once you leave NZ unless you meet certain criteria. You must apply to keep these payments going. To apply, call our International Services team at least 6 weeks before you leave.
If you are a U.S. citizen, you may receive your Social Security payments outside the U.S. as long as you are eligible for them. However, there are certain countries to which we are not allowed to send payments.
The $1,000 a month rule is a retirement guideline suggesting you need about $240,000 saved for every $1,000 per month in desired income, based on a 5% annual withdrawal rate (5% of $240k is $12k/year, or $1k/month). It's a simple way to set savings goals, but it doesn't account for inflation, taxes, or other income like Social Security, so it's best used as a starting point, not a complete plan.
Services Australia outlines the following: If you're overseas for up to 6 weeks — Generally, your pension payments will continue as normal if you're travelling for less than 6 weeks. If you're overseas for more than 6 weeks — Once you reach 6 weeks, your pension supplement will drop to the basic rate.