Knowledge base
Learn the concepts
Plain-English explainers for the ideas behind the numbers — how the Age Pension is calculated, what a safe withdrawal rate is, how Monte Carlo and the stress test work, and more. Search a keyword or browse by topic. Each concept links to a live example you can open and change.
18 concepts
Age Pension
The Age Pension: who gets it and when
A means-tested government payment from Age Pension age (67). Most retirees get at least a part pension, and it grows as you spend your savings down.
How the Age Pension is calculated (income & assets tests)
Two tests run in parallel — an income test and an assets test — and you're paid the lower result. Each starts from the maximum pension and tapers it away.
Spending & withdrawal
Safe withdrawal rate (SWR) & the 4% rule
The most you can draw each year and still be very likely to last. The famous '4% rule' is a US starting point — Australia's Age Pension usually lets you draw more.
Flexible SWR & Guyton-Klinger guardrails
If you're willing to trim spending a little after bad markets (and can spend more after good ones), you can start from a higher withdrawal rate. That's the flexible SWR.
What 'flexible spending' means
Spending that responds to your portfolio instead of a fixed amount every year — the single biggest lever for surviving bad markets.
Drawdown order & the minimum drawdown
In retirement the planner spends outside-super savings before super (it's more tax-efficient), after taking the legislated minimum super drawdown.
Failsafe withdrawal rate
The withdrawal rate that would have survived even the single worst starting year in recorded history — the most cautious possible spend.
Risk & simulation
Monte Carlo simulation & the 'likelihood' figure
The 'X% likely to last' number comes from running your plan through thousands of random market paths, not a single smooth return.
Sequence-of-returns risk & the historical stress test
The order of returns matters, not just the average. A crash early in retirement is far more dangerous than the same crash later — the stress test replays real history to show it.
Survival-weighted outcomes ('Rich, Broke or Dead')
A run-to-90 test treats every late shortfall as a failure — but you might not live that long. Survival weighting blends 'will it last?' with 'how likely am I to still be here?'
Super, tax & contributions
Super vs outside-super savings (and how each is taxed)
Super in pension phase is tax-free; savings outside super are taxed on their earnings. That difference drives where you hold money and which you spend first.
Contribution caps & salary sacrifice
You can add to super pre-tax (concessional) or after-tax (non-concessional), each capped per year. Salary sacrifice is the main lever to build super faster.
The Transfer Balance Cap (tax-free super limit)
There's a lifetime limit on how much super you can move into a tax-free pension. Above it, the excess stays in accumulation and its earnings are taxed at 15%.
Super fees and why they matter
A percentage fee quietly reduces your return every year and compounds over decades. The planner models fees explicitly because they're often the biggest gap in a forecast.
Other income streams (DB pensions, annuities, foreign pensions)
Lifelong income outside super — a defined-benefit pension, annuity, or foreign pension like US Social Security — modelled as a first-class source that offsets your drawdown.
Non-resident (foreign resident) tax
If you retire permanently overseas, Australian tax works differently — no tax-free threshold, only Australian-sourced income is taxed, and the Age Pension generally can't be claimed from abroad.
How the model works
Preservation age & the early-retirement bridge
Super unlocks at 60 (preservation age) but the Age Pension starts at 67. Retiring earlier means funding the gap from savings outside super.
Today's dollars (real vs nominal)
Every figure is shown in today's purchasing power, so $50,000 in 30 years means what $50,000 buys now — not an inflated future number.
Prefer quick answers?
The FAQ covers common questions in a sentence or two. Or jump straight into the free planner to see your own numbers.