From 1 July 2026, the Australian government will impose an additional 15% tax (30% total) on earnings from the portion of superannuation balances exceeding $3 million, affecting about 80,000 people (0.5%). A 40% total tax rate applies to earnings on balances over $10 million, with thresholds now indexed and based on realized earnings.
a tax rate of 15% will apply to superannuation earnings corresponding to the proportion of your total super balance exceeding $3 million; and. an additional tax rate of 10% will apply to superannuation earnings corresponding to the proportion of your total super balance exceeding $10 million.
On 1 July 2025, the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) – the minimum contribution your employer must make into your super fund – increased from 11.5% to 12% of your base earnings (or ordinary time earnings).
In June 2021 there were about 55,000 individuals with a balance over $3 million, up from around 35,000 in June 2019. Given recent investment returns and further contributions, the Treasury estimate that by July 2025 there will be around 80,000 individuals with more than $3 million in superannuation is quite reasonable.
That said, despite any proposed changes that may occur, superannuation remains a tax-effective retirement savings vehicle for the vast majority of Australians. Even at up to 30 per cent tax above $3 million, it is usually better than investing personally.
If you have $3 million in retirement savings, you are among a tiny percentage of American households with a nest egg that large. When calculating what percentage of retirees have $3 million, the Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI) analysis found that just 0.8% of households have saved $3 million in retirement.
Only around 3.1 per cent of households have very high total balances of over $2 million. Around 1.4 per cent or 142,000 households have more than $3 million in superannuation.
According to estimates based on the Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, a mere 3.2% of retirees have over $1 million in their retirement accounts. The number of those with $2 million or more is even smaller, falling somewhere between this 3.2% and the 0.1% who have $5 million or more saved.
ANU Associate Professor Ben Phillips and researcher Richard Webster found doctors, business professionals, senior managers, farmers and engineers were the most likely to pay the new 30 per cent tax on earnings on balances more than $3m, including unrealised gains.
If you're aged 60 or over and withdraw a lump sum: You don't pay any tax when you withdraw from a taxed super fund.
From 1 July 2026
Super guarantee payments must be paid to an employees' super fund at the same time as paying qualifying earnings (QE), on payday, and received by the super fund within 7 business days. There are some exceptions to the 7-day deadline, such as for new employees.
You can access your super when you reach 65, even if you haven't retired. You can also access your super if you've reached your preservation age and retired from full-time work.
What's changing? On 1 July 2025, the Super Guarantee rate will increase from 11.5% to 12% of your before-tax earnings.
The short answer: to retire on $80,000 a year in Australia, you'll need a super balance of roughly between $700,000 and $1.4 million. It's a broad range, and that's because everyone's circumstances are different.
In the organisation's super balance update, it found 2.5 per cent of the population have a super account of more than $1 million, as of June 2021. This represents 417,567 individuals, ASFA said, and is a 29 per cent increase from the 322,200 individuals who held over $1 million in June 2019.
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Around 87,000 individuals have super accounts with +$3 million. That compares to Treasury's figure of 80,000.
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