Your super for retirement

What you can do with your super when you retire

When you retire or transition to retire, you can choose what you do with your super. You can:

Keep it in your super account
Start a regular income from it
Withdraw it
Use a combination of these options.

Keep your money in super

You don’t have to start withdrawing your super as soon as you retire. You can keep your money in super for as long as you like.

A few points to consider:

You’ll continue to pay tax on your investment earnings. If you’re not working or adding to your super, you’ll need to tell us if you want to keep your current insurance.
If you’re still working (as part of a transition-to-retirement strategy or up to 10 hours a week) and earning more than $450 a month, your employer will keep making super contributions for you.
Once you turn 65, you’ll need to meet a few conditions (known as the work test) before making voluntary contributions into your super.

Start a regular income

Use your super to open a pension account and pay yourself a regular income.

You can choose a flexible income pension (like our Flexi Pension) or a lifetime pension (like our indexed pensions).

Flexible income pensions

Flexible income pensions let you choose:

how much you’re paid (subject to government-set minimum and maximum amounts)
how often you’re paid
how long your super will last.

Flexi Pension

Transition to retirement

You can use an adjustable pension account to supplement your income while you transition to retirement. A transition-to-retirement (TTR) pension lets you draw money from your super while you’re still working. This lets you keep the same take-home pay and reduce your work hours.

Fixed income pensions

Fixed income pensions give you:

a fixed regular income for life (indexed in line with CPI each year)
a guaranteed minimum amount over 10 years in most cases
protection for you (and possibly your partner) from outliving your retirement savings.

Indexed pensions

Withdraw your super as a lump sum

If you’re retired or aged over 65, you can take some or all your super out of your account.

This can help to pay off debts or take care of necessary expenses but could impact your future income, especially if your super is your main source of income.