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$1,750,000 (1.75m) in super lasts more than 50 years on the ASFA comfortable budget for a single retiree — $55,923 a year — assuming a 5% return and 2.5% inflation. On a modest budget of $36,434 a year it lasts indefinitely.
Spending figures come from the ASFA Retirement Standard (March quarter 2026), the industry benchmark for what a retirement actually costs in Australia, for retirees aged 65–84 who own their home outright. “How long will 1.75m last” has no answer without a spending figure, so these are real published budgets rather than round numbers we picked.
Every projection above models your super alone, drawn down until it is gone. It does not add the Age Pension — which is means tested, so as your balance falls your entitlement rises. Super only ever has to fund the gap between your spending and your pension, and that gap shrinks every year.
Assuming super is your only assessable asset and you have no other income. The full rate is $31,223 a year for a single and $47,070 for a couple.
Spending $55,923 a year — the comfortable single budget — $1,750,000 funds this spending for the whole projection to age 92 with or without the Age Pension.
A couple spending $78,566 a year from the same $1,750,000 funds this spending for the whole projection to age 92 with or without the Age Pension.
Projected from age 67 to 92 at the same 5% return and 2.5% inflation used above, with the means test re-assessed every year as the balance changes.
So “more than 50 years” is how long the super lasts at that spending level, not the point at which your income stops. Work out your own entitlement — the assets test is usually what decides it — or check with Services Australia.
In development
Everything above assumes a single retiree, or a couple sharing one balance. If you are planning as a couple with two balances, two ages and a joint budget, the answer for $1,750,000 between you is a different calculation.
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See what is in the reportA 2.5% real return on $1,750,000 earns about $43,750 a year, so any budget below that is self-sustaining and anything above it draws the balance down.
| Retirement budget | Annual spend | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|
| Modest, singleCovers the basics with few extras — a modest retirement is only a little above the Age Pension. | $36,434 | Never runs out |
| Modest, coupleThe same basics-only budget for a couple sharing costs. | $52,473 | 50+ years |
| Comfortable, singlePrivate health cover, a reasonable car, domestic holidays and regular leisure. | $55,923 | 50+ years |
| Comfortable, coupleThe benchmark most people picture when they think of a good retirement. | $78,566 | 33 years |
The budgets above assume you own your home outright, which is how ASFA publishes its headline figures — and it is the assumption that quietly does the most work. Renting adds roughly $14,730 a year to a modest single budget, bringing a basics-only retirement close to the cost of a comfortable one with no housing cost.
| Renting in retirement | Annual spend | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|
| Modest, single, rentingA basics-only budget while paying rent costs nearly as much as a comfortable retirement with no mortgage. | $51,164 | 50+ years |
| Modest, couple, rentingThe renting equivalent for a couple. | $69,002 | 41 years |
A lot — which is the honest caveat on any single number. Below, everything is held constant except the return: same $1,750,000starting balance, same $55,923 a year comfortable single budget, same 2.5% inflation.
| Investment return | Real return after inflation | How long $1,750,000 lasts |
|---|---|---|
| 4% | 1.5% | 43 years |
| 5% | 2.5% | 50+ years |
| 6% | 3.5% | Never runs out |
| 7% | 4.5% | Never runs out |
Sequencing matters too: a poor few years early in retirement, while the balance is at its largest, does more damage than the same years later. A single average return cannot show that, which is why these are projections rather than predictions.
Once you start an account-based (allocated) pension you have to withdraw at least a set percentage each year, whether or not your budget needs it. The rate is set by your age in Schedule 7 of the SIS Regulations and applies to your balance at 1 July.
| Age | Minimum rate | Minimum on $1,750,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Under 65 | 4% | $70,000 |
| 65–74 | 5% | $87,500 |
| 75–79 | 6% | $105,000 |
| 80–84 | 7% | $122,500 |
| 85–89 | 9% | $157,500 |
| 90–94 | 11% | $192,500 |
| 95 and over | 14% | $245,000 |
Change the balance, drawdown, return and inflation and see the balance-over-time chart.
On the ASFA comfortable budget for a single retiree — $55,923 a year — $1,750,000 lasts more than 50 years, assuming a 5% investment return and 2.5% inflation (a 2.5% real return). On a modest single budget of $36,434 a year it lasts indefinitely. These figures deliberately exclude the Age Pension, which most Australian retirees receive in part or in full, so the real-world figure is longer.
$1,750,000 can support an ASFA "comfortable, couple" retirement — $78,566 a year — for a full 25-year retirement from super alone. Anything more expensive runs the balance down sooner, but not as fast as it looks: with the Age Pension counted, $1,750,000 funds this spending for the whole projection to age 92 with or without the Age Pension on the comfortable single budget of $55,923 a year.
A single homeowner over 67 with $1,750,000 in super would receive nothing at first — the balance is above the assets test cut-off, and a homeowner couple nothing at first. Those figures are only the starting point: the assets test reduces the pension by $3 a fortnight for every $1,000 above the free area, so every dollar you spend increases what you receive. Across a projection from 67 to 92, a single retiree drawing the comfortable budget from $1,750,000 receives roughly $0 of Age Pension in today's dollars. The full rate is $31,223 a year for a single and $47,070 for a couple.
At a 2.5% real return, $1,750,000 earns about $43,750 a year after inflation. Drawing only that much would preserve the balance indefinitely in today's dollars. Drawing more — which most retirees do, and which the legislated minimums require once you start an account-based pension — runs the balance down over time by design. Super is meant to be spent, not preserved.
Once you start an account-based (allocated) pension you must withdraw a legislated minimum each year, set by your age. On $1,750,000 that is $87,500 a year at age 65–74 (5%), rising to $122,500 at 80–84 (7%) and $245,000 from 95 (14%). The rate applies to your balance at 1 July each year, so the dollar amount moves with the balance.
No, and the gap is large. ASFA prices a modest single retirement at $36,434 a year for someone who owns their home outright, but $51,164 a year for someone renting. On $1,750,000 that is the difference between lasting indefinitely and more than 50 years. Housing is the single biggest variable in any retirement budget.
From age 60, withdrawals from a taxed super fund — as a lump sum or as an account-based pension — are generally tax free, and earnings inside a retirement-phase pension are untaxed up to the transfer balance cap. That is why the projections on this page do not deduct tax. Before 60, or from an untaxed scheme such as some public sector funds, different rules apply.
Each page works through one balance in detail: how long it lasts on the ASFA modest and comfortable budgets, what changes if you rent, and how the Age Pension fits in.
ATO rates checked against official sources — verified 28 July 2026
Estimates only. Not financial or tax advice. Full disclaimer for your rights and our limitations of liability.
Rates and thresholds last updated for the 2026–27 financial year.