In this guide
After working for decades to build your superannuation, the day finally arrives when you can say goodbye to the nine-to-five and turn your super into a reliable source of retirement income. Depending on your account balance, a super pension can be used to supplement the Age Pension or replace it entirely.
The most common type of super pension, also known as a retirement income stream, is an account-based pension but there are other pension products outlined later in this article.
You can set up your account-based pension in a way that suits you, with the amount and frequency of payments a matter of choice, with one proviso.
There are no upper limits to how much you can withdraw but there are minimum annual payment amounts that vary based on your age.
For more details see SuperGuide’s article on minimum pension payments, which includes a calculator to help you estimate how much you must withdraw.
There are also limits on how much you can transfer into retirement phase. The transfer balance cap is currently $1.9 million across all pension accounts you hold. If you exceed this cap you may have to remove the excess and put it back into an accumulation account or take it out of super.
