Making super contributions after age 60: Even in retirement

In this guide

Why add to your super after retiring?
Tax and social security benefits
Contribution options for those under 75
The work test
Contribution options when you’re over 75
Contributing to super when you have opened an income stream
Returning to work
Case studies
The bottom line

As birthdays roll by beyond age 60, the focus on making sure you’ve accumulated enough super intensifies. Many people begin to notice the attraction of tax-deductible super contributions and the advantages of holding investments in super, particularly in income streams, and rush to build their balance.

If that’s you and you have some cash to spare, you may be interested in topping up. So, what are the rules on making contributions when you’ve reached 60, and what if you’re no longer working?

Why add to your super after retiring?

Contributing to super beyond 60 comes with all the tax benefits of super and very little of the downside of losing access to your money that can hold back younger people from adding voluntary savings.

Some people can also improve their (or their spouse’s) Centrelink benefits by moving savings into the system.

Unrestricted access to super is available at 60 if you have permanently retired or if you have left an employer after your 60^th birthday. If you don’t meet those conditions, you can still access up to 10% of your balance per year with a transition-to-retirement pension.

When you turn 65 your whole super balance is available to withdraw as a lump sum, income stream or combination of the two, no matter your work status.

Learn more about options to access super.

Investment earnings and contributions to super are taxed at concessional rates that are frequently much lower than the marginal rates you pay outside the system. What’s more, investment returns on retirement income streams are tax free. This offers you the opportunity to reduce tax and increase your retirement savings at the same time.

If you need a refresher on the rules, take a look at our guide on how super is taxed.

Withdrawals from super are tax free from 60 unless you’ve got savings in an untaxed fund or are receiving a significant defined benefit pension.

Read about tax on super withdrawals after 60.

Super money invested in a lifetime income stream reduces the amount counted in Centrelink’s means tests, and super in the accumulation phase is not assessed at all while the account holder is below age 67. As a result, holding money in one of these options can increase any means-tested Centrelink payments you (or your spouse) receive including Age Pension and Disability Support Pension.

Learn how lifetime income products can boost Age Pension entitlements.

All this can make moving money into super a very attractive proposition.

Contribution options for those under 75

While you’re not yet 75, all types of contributions to your account are permitted. This includes:

Employer super guarantee (compulsory employer contributions)
Additional contributions your employer chooses to make
Salary sacrifice
Personal non-concessional contributions
Spouse contributions (from your spouse into your account)
Downsizer contributions from the sale of your home
Personal tax-deductible contributions

To make personal tax-deductible contributions after reaching 67, you need to meet the work test or be eligible for the work-test exemption, described next. No other contribution types require you to meet the work test, so being retired is not a barrier.

You have access to the same annual contribution caps as people of any other age, as well as the opportunity to use the bring-forward rule for non-concessional contributions and carry-forward arrangement for concessional contributions to contribute more than the standard caps.

For 2024–25, the annual concessional cap is $30,000 while the non-concessional cap is $120,000. If your total super balance is equal to or more than the general transfer balance cap ($1.9 million for 2024–25) on 30 June, your non-concessional cap for the following financial year is zero.

Downsizer contributions don’t count towards contribution caps, so you can add these even if your total super balance has breached the $1.9 million limit.

The work test

The work test requires you to be gainfully employed (in paid work) for a minimum of 40 hours in a period of 30 consecutive days at least once during the financial year you wish to make the contribution. Prior to July 2022 the work test applied to a wide range of super contributions, but now needs to be met only for personal tax-deductible contributions.

If you can’t meet the work test this financial year but your total super balance on 30 June was less than $300,000 and you satisfied the work test requirements last financial year, you can make personal tax-deductible contributions in the current financial year by using the work test exemption. The exemption only applies in the first year after you last met the work test.

Learn more about the work test and exemption.

Contribution options when you’re over 75

Turning 75 is the end of the line for most super contributions. The only types permitted beyond this milestone are your employer’s compulsory super guarantee contributions (if you are still working), and downsizer contributions from the sale of your home.

Compulsory employer contributions can continue for as long as you’re still working and there is no upper age limit or cap on your super balance for downsizer amounts.

If your 75^th birthday is beckoning or has just passed, there is one last opportunity to make or receive other contributions, because super funds can legally accept other amounts for 28 days after the end of the month you turned 75. If you’re going to use this time to contribute it is important to check with your super fund first as they may have more restrictive rules.

Example: Contributing after 75

Ted is working and making salary-sacrifice contributions to super via his pay. He turns 75 during October and his last salary sacrifice is deducted from his pay during the month. Ted’s employer forwards it to the super fund on 20 November. As this is within 28 days after the end of October, the fund can accept Ted’s salary sacrifice.

If the employer had waited until after 28 November to send the contributions, the super fund would need to return Ted’s salary sacrifice via payroll because the contribution deadline had passed.

Contributing to super when you have opened an income stream

If you have moved your entire super balance to an income stream/pension and wish to make further contributions, you will need to open a separate super accumulation account. Contributions cannot be added to your pension.

If you don’t already have an accumulation account to contribute to, opening one is easy:

Visit the website of the fund you want and find the ‘join’ button
Read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and then fill in an online application, or
Print and complete a paper application form or call the fund to have them post you a PDS and application.

You can open a new accumulation account at any time, including if you’re over 75.

Once you have made your contributions you may want to use your balance to start a second pension or combine your existing pension balance with the new savings to get everything into one pension account. Your super fund or SMSF administration provider (if you’re running your own self-managed fund) can help you with this.

Returning to work

Many retirees want to know if it’s possible to return to work after accessing super, and the answer is yes, you can.

Even if you declared you were permanently retired to access your balance, you can return to work at any time. Perhaps your savings are diminishing faster than you expected, maybe you miss the stimulation of work, or perhaps you simply want to meet the work test so you can add more personal deductible contributions to super. Whatever the reason, you are always free to start work again and to make any super contributions that your age and work status permit.

Case studies

Selling a property

Stanley retired at 58 and is now 66 years old. He has an investment property he wants to sell because he is no longer interested in the work involved in being a landlord and the rent is not generating enough income.

The sale price of $800,000 includes a $300,000 capital gain. Stanley will need to declare $150,000 of this gain on his tax return, on top of his other taxable income for the year which is $30,000 – a combination of rent received from the property and interest on his savings.

Stanley has $132,500 in unused concessional contribution cap space from the previous five years because he has not made any concessional contributions since he retired and his total super balance on 30 June was under $500,000. The unused cap means he can contribute up to $162,500 in concessional amounts in the 2024–25 financial year ($132,500 unused from prior years + $30,000 cap for 2024–25).

Stanley chooses to make a personal tax-deductible contribution of $135,000 to reduce his taxable income to $45,000 for the year. This reduces his income tax (including Medicare Levy) by $46,675 and generates $20,250 in super contributions tax, reducing the tax bill by $26,425 overall.

He will also contribute $360,000 as a non-concessional amount using the bring forward rule.

After all his contributions are added, Stanley will have $775,000 in super – including the balance of around $300,000 he had accumulated prior to selling the property. He plans to use this to start a retirement pension that will have tax-free investment returns and pay him a regular tax-free income to live on.

Reallocating investments to improve social security

Alfonso is 70 and married to Jalena who is 60. They are retired and own their home. Alfonso has a super pension with a balance of $600,000 while Jalena has $200,000 in her super pension. Jalena stopped work due to a back injury and is eligible for Disability Support Pension while Alfonso receives Age Pension.

Based on their current assessable assets, Alfonso and Jalena receive combined pensions of $16,063 per year from Centrelink.

To improve their position, Jalena transfers her super pension back into an accumulation account where the balance will not be assessed in Centrelink means tests until she is 67. Alfonso cashes a lump sum of $200,000 from his pension (tax free) and gives it to Jalena to contribute to her super as a non-concessional contribution.

These actions combined reduce the couple’s assessable assets by $400,000. They now receive full pensions of $43,753 from Centrelink which is $27,690 per year more than before.

When Jalena turns 67, the balance of her accumulation account will become assessable and the couple’s Centrelink benefits will reduce. At this time, she will consider using her retirement savings to open a new super pension.

The bottom line

Reaching what some think of as retirement age is not the end of the line for adding to your super. It’s important to consider the contributions you are eligible to make beyond age 60 and even after retirement, and how they could benefit you.

With so many variables, finding the best strategy for yourself can be complex so don’t hesitate to seek personalised financial advice if you need it.

You can seek advice from your super fund or another suitable planner.