What is the maximum I can withdraw from a TTR pension?

10% of the account balance each financial year, worked out at the start of the year. The minimum is the same Schedule 7 percentage an account-based pension uses — 4% under 65. So on $200,000 the range is $8,000 to $20,000. An ordinary account-based pension has no maximum at all — that is one of the differences between them.

Do I pay tax on TTR pension payments?

From age 60, no — the taxed element of a super income stream is non-assessable non-exempt income. It is not in your tax return and it does not push your salary into a higher bracket, which is exactly what makes it able to replace take-home pay dollar for dollar. Between preservation age and 60 the taxable component is assessable at your marginal rate with a 15% tax offset. In practice that case has run out: preservation age reached 60 for everyone born from 1 July 1964, so nobody can now reach preservation age before 60.

What is my preservation age?

It depends on when you were born: before 1 july 1960 is 55; 1 july 1960 – 30 june 1961 is 56; 1 july 1961 – 30 june 1962 is 57; 1 july 1962 – 30 june 1963 is 58; 1 july 1963 – 30 june 1964 is 59; from 1 july 1964 is 60. The phase-in has finished, so anyone whose preservation age is still ahead of them has 60. Preservation age is not Age Pension age, which is 67, and it is not the age super payments become tax-free, which is 60.

How does a TTR work with salary sacrifice?

The pairing is the point. You sacrifice more salary into super, where it is taxed at 15% rather than your marginal rate, and you replace the take-home pay you gave up with TTR payments, which from 60 are tax-free. Your net income stays the same and less tax is paid along the way. The constraints are the $32,500 concessional cap for 2026–27 (which counts your employer's contributions first, and is usually what binds), the 10% ceiling on what the TTR account can pay you back, and the 15% tax the fund keeps paying on both accounts' earnings.

Is a TTR pension worth starting?

That depends on things a calculator cannot see, and this page does not answer it. What it does is show both positions on the same assumptions and at the same net income, so the difference in super is a like-for-like figure you can weigh yourself. The things it cannot weigh: whether you need the flexibility, what happens to insurance attached to the account the money comes from, whether you might stop work sooner than planned, and whether your fund charges more for a pension account. If you want a recommendation for your own circumstances, that has to come from someone licensed to give it.

What happens to my TTR pension at 65?

It converts to an ordinary retirement-phase account-based pension automatically — you do not have to do anything. Three things change at once: the 10% ceiling lapses, the fund stops paying tax on the account's earnings, and the balance starts counting against your transfer balance cap. From that point there is nothing a TTR offers that an ordinary pension does not, which is why this calculator runs the comparison to 65 by default.

Can I keep contributing while I have a TTR pension?

Yes, but not into the TTR account. Once an income stream starts you cannot add to it, so your employer contributions and any salary sacrifice go into a separate accumulation account. That is why a TTR arrangement necessarily means holding two accounts, and why the dollar administration fee gets paid twice — a real cost this calculator includes and most descriptions of the arrangement leave out.

Transition to Retirement Calculator

Q: Are TTR pension earnings tax-free?

No. A transition to retirement income stream is not in the retirement phase, so the fund pays 15% tax on the account's investment earnings — the same as an accumulation account. The earnings exemption only starts when you meet a condition of release with no cashing restriction, which usually means fully retiring or turning 65. A TTR did get the exemption until 1 July 2017, which is why a lot of material still says otherwise. On the default case above, the exemption would be worth $9,882 in today's dollars over 5 years.

On $120,000 at 60, sacrificing $18,100 a year and replacing the take-home pay with TTR payments leaves $15,891 more super at 65 in today’s dollars, with the same money in the hand along the way. Whether that trade suits you is your call — this page shows the two positions and the arithmetic between them.

A transition to retirement income stream lets you draw between the legislated minimum and 10% of a super account each year once you reach preservation age, while you keep working. The thing most descriptions get wrong: a TTR account still pays 15% tax on its earnings. It is not in the retirement phase, so the tax-free earnings people associate with a pension do not apply until you fully retire or turn 65.

Your details

Still working, over preservation age, thinking about drawing some super while you keep going

Your age now

Run the arrangement to age

A TTR pension converts to an ordinary retirement-phase pension automatically at 65.

Date of birth (optional)

Only used to work out your preservation age. Left blank it is taken as 60, which is correct for everyone born from 1 July 1964.

Annual salary

Total super balance

Moved into the TTR pension

The 10% ceiling is a percentage of this account, so moving more raises what you can draw.

Extra salary sacrifice each year

Trimmed automatically if it would take you past the concessional cap, with your employer’s contributions counted.

How much to draw from the TTR pension

Assumptions you can change

Return before tax and fees (% a year)

Wage inflation (% a year)

Percentage fee (% a year)

Administration fee per account ($ a year)

The two positions, 5 years to age 65

	No TTR	Salary sacrifice + TTR
Super at 65, in today’s dollars	$509,359	$525,250
Net income over the period, in today’s dollars	$451,908	$451,908
Income tax and Medicare levy paid	$159,607	$128,160
Contributions tax paid by the fund	$11,629	$26,247
Tax paid by the fund on earnings	$26,102	$26,559

Net income is the same on both sides. The TTR payments replace the take-home pay the salary sacrifice gave up, to the dollar, which is what makes the super figures above comparable. The difference in super at 65 is +$15,891 in today’s dollars.

Where the difference comes from

Income tax and Medicare levy saved by sacrificing: $31,448
Less the 15% the fund takes on the sacrificed money: −$14,617
Less extra tax on fund earnings, and the second account’s fee: −$457

Minimum at 60: 4% · $8,000
Maximum (10%): $20,000
Drawn in the first year: $12,308; $12,308 would replace the pay given up

A TTR pension does not get tax-free earnings

The account is not in the retirement phase, so the fund still pays 15% on its earnings — the same as accumulation. If it did get the exemption, the super figure at 65 would be $535,132 instead of $525,250, a difference of $9,882 in today’s dollars from $10,277 of fund tax. The exemption was available on a TTR until 1 July 2017, which is why a lot of material still describes it.

Shown in future dollars. At 3.7% inflation, $629,883 in 5 years buys about $525,250 of today's goods.

Your employer contributions plus a $20,000 sacrifice would exceed the $32,500 concessional cap for 2026–27. This projection has reduced the sacrifice by $1,900 a year to stay inside it. Contributions above the cap are added back to your taxable income and taxed at your marginal rate.

What this projection assumes

This calculator compares two positions over the years a transition to retirement income stream can run: your current salary and super arrangement, and the same salary with extra salary sacrifice and a TTR pension replacing the take-home pay you gave up. It applies the 10% TTR drawdown ceiling, the legislated minimum, the 15% tax a TTR account still pays on its earnings, and the concessional contributions cap. It shows the difference in your super and in your net income, in today's dollars. It does not recommend either position and it is not advice.

Assumptions

Tax on the TTR account's investment earnings15% Set by law: A transition-to-retirement income stream is not in the retirement phase, so its earnings are taxed at the ordinary superannuation fund rate — the same 15% as an accumulation account. The tax-free earnings people associate with a pension only start once you meet a condition of release with no cashing restriction, or turn 65. A TRIS did get the exemption before 1 July 2017, which is why so much surviving material says otherwise. Source
Maximum you can draw10% of the account balance a year Set by law: The ceiling that makes a TRIS a TRIS. Worked out from the balance at the start of the financial year, and it applies until you meet a condition of release with no cashing restriction — automatically at 65, when the account converts to an ordinary retirement-phase pension and the ceiling and the earnings tax both go. Source
Minimum you must draw4% at age 60 Set by law: The same Schedule 7 minimum an ordinary account-based pension uses, from your age and the account's balance at the start of the year. Between that floor and the 10% ceiling you choose the amount; outside them you cannot. Source
Preservation age60 You can change this: Taken as 60, which is the preservation age for everyone born from 1 July 1964. Anyone with a lower preservation age was born before then and has already passed it — the youngest such person turned 62 in June 2026. Enter your date of birth to see your own cohort. Source
Tax on the TTR payments themselvesNone — you are 60 or over Set by law: From age 60 the taxed element of a super income stream is non-assessable non-exempt income. It is not in your tax return and it does not push your salary into a higher bracket, which is the whole reason a TTR can replace take-home pay efficiently. Source
Concessional contributions cap$32,500 (2026–27) Set by law: Employer contributions and salary sacrifice together count against this cap. Your employer's $14,400 uses part of it, leaving $18,100 to sacrifice. Contributions above the cap are added back to your taxable income and taxed at your marginal rate, so this projection trims a sacrifice that would breach it rather than modelling a contribution the law does not allow. Source
Tax on before-tax contributions15% Set by law: Employer super guarantee and salary sacrifice are taxed at 15% as they arrive in the fund. That rate against your marginal rate is the entire source of the arrangement's tax difference, and this projection computes it by running your tax twice rather than subtracting two rates. Source
Investment return7.18% a year before tax and fees You can change this: Set so that after the 15% tax a fund pays on its earnings it matches the return ASIC's Moneysmart calculator assumes for a Balanced option while you are still working. The same rate is applied to both accounts, because both are taxed the same way — which is the point. Source
Inflation used to show today's dollars3.7% a year You can change this: The rate ASIC requires while you are still working. It is wage inflation rather than CPI, because during working life what matters is how your position measures against rising living standards. Your salary, the payments and the dollar fees all rise with it, so every figure holds its value in today's dollars. Source
Administration fee, per account$59 a year in today's dollars You can change this: ASIC's default, charged on each account. Running a TTR means holding two accounts instead of one, so the dollar fee is paid twice — a real cost of the arrangement that most descriptions of it leave out. Source
How long the arrangement runsTo age 65 You can change this: A TRIS converts to a retirement-phase pension automatically at 65, at which point its earnings become exempt and the 10% ceiling lapses. So this compares the two positions over the period the TRIS rules actually apply, and stops rather than projecting past the point where the arrangement stops existing. Source

What it does not do

This is a model, not a prediction. It assumes the same return every year, a steady salary path and no change in the rules.
It compares two positions on matched assumptions. It does not tell you which one suits you, and it cannot: that depends on your cash-flow needs, your other income, your insurance inside super and how close you are to stopping work.
Both accounts are charged the same fees and earn the same return. A real pension account often costs more than an accumulation account, so splitting the balance can cost slightly more than this shows.
It does not model insurance cover inside super. Starting a TRIS with part of your balance can reduce or end cover attached to the account the money came from, which for some people is the largest consequence of the whole arrangement and has nothing to do with tax.
It does not model Division 293 tax, which applies an extra 15% to concessional contributions once income plus contributions passes $250,000, and which is charged to you personally rather than deducted from the fund.
It does not model the government co-contribution, the low income super tax offset, unused concessional cap carried forward from earlier years, or the three-year bring-forward rule for after-tax contributions.
The tax figures assume you have private hospital cover and no study loan. Salary sacrificing does not reduce the Medicare levy surcharge, because reportable employer contributions are added back for that test. It does reduce study loan repayments, but that defers a debt rather than saving tax.
It stops at the age you set and does not model what happens afterwards, including the transfer balance cap that applies when the account converts to a retirement-phase pension.
Do not use this to decide about a particular super fund or income stream product. If you want advice on your own circumstances, speak to someone licensed to give it.

This is a generic calculator, not advice about any particular superannuation fund, pension or income stream product, and it is not tailored to your circumstances. Do not use it to decide about a specific product. If you want advice on your own situation, speak to someone licensed to give it. We rely on ASIC Corporations (Superannuation Calculators and Retirement Estimates) Instrument 2022/603 for this calculator. You can print or save these results using the buttons above.

TTR earnings are taxed at 15%, not tax-free

This is the single most misunderstood fact about a TTR, and it was true the other way round once, which is why the mistake is so durable. Until 1 July 2017 a transition to retirement income stream did receive the retirement-phase earnings exemption, so a great deal of surviving material — including advice written in good faith at the time — describes tax-free earnings. It changed. A TTR account is only treated as exempt current pension income once the holder meets a condition of release with no cashing restriction, which for most people means fully retiring or turning 65.

So the fund pays 15% on the earnings of a TTR account, exactly as it does on an accumulation account. On the case above, if the exemption did apply the super figure at 65 would be $535,132 rather than $525,250 — a gap of $9,882 in today’s dollars over just 5 years.

What a TTR does still give someone over 60 is tax-free payments. That is a different rule, and it is the one doing the work in the salary-sacrifice pairing below: the payments come out with no tax on them, so they can replace take-home pay dollar for dollar. Confusing the two is what produces the belief that a TTR is tax-free all round.

Why a TTR is nearly always paired with salary sacrifice

Drawing a TTR on its own takes money out of super and stops it compounding. The arrangement people actually run is a pair: sacrifice more salary into super, where it is taxed at 15% instead of your marginal rate, and replace the take-home pay you gave up with TTR payments, which from 60 are not assessable income. Same money in the hand, a different amount of tax paid on the way.

Three things constrain it, and all three are in the calculator above. The concessional cap is $32,500 for 2026–27 and your employer’s contributions count towards it — on $120,000 that leaves $18,100 of room, which is why the default case trims a $20,000 sacrifice to $18,100. The 10% ceiling limits what the TTR account can pay you back, so a large sacrifice against a small pension account cannot be replaced. And the 15% earnings tax keeps applying to both accounts throughout.

The tax saved is worked out by running your full tax computation twice and differencing it, not by multiplying by a bracket rate. That matters more than it sounds: at $60,000 a $10,000 sacrifice escapes a higher effective rate than it does at $100,000, because the low income tax offset is still tapering at the lower salary. A bracket lookup cannot produce that.

Preservation age by date of birth

You cannot start a TTR before your preservation age. It phased up from 55 to 60 over five birth cohorts and the phase-in has finished, so everyone born from 1 July 1964 has a preservation age of 60. One consequence worth stating plainly: the youngest person with a preservation age below 60 was born on 30 June 1964 and is now in their sixties, so nobody can now reach preservation age before turning 60. Every TTR started from here on is being paid to someone 60 or over, which is why the payments are tax-free in practice.

Date of birth	Preservation age	Still ahead of anyone?
Before 1 July 1960	55	No — this cohort has all passed it
1 July 1960 – 30 June 1961	56	No — this cohort has all passed it
1 July 1961 – 30 June 1962	57	No — this cohort has all passed it
1 July 1962 – 30 June 1963	58	No — this cohort has all passed it
1 July 1963 – 30 June 1964	59	No — this cohort has all passed it
From 1 July 1964	60	Yes

Preservation age is not Age Pension age, which is 67 and a separate question entirely. And it is not the age super becomes tax-free either: that is 60. The three used to be different for different people, which is most of why this area is confusing.

How much you can draw: the minimum and the 10% maximum

A TTR pension has a floor and a ceiling, and an ordinary account-based pension only has the floor. The floor is the same legislated minimum an allocated pension uses — 4% under 65, from your balance at the start of the financial year. The ceiling is 10% of that same balance, and it is the restriction that defines a TTR: you cannot simply take the account, which is what “non-commutable” means in practice.

Because the ceiling is a percentage of the TTR account rather than of your total super, how much you move across sets how much you can draw. On $200,000 the range is $8,000 to $20,000 a year. Both limits disappear at 65, when a TTR converts to a retirement-phase pension automatically: the ceiling goes, the earnings exemption starts, and the balance begins counting against your transfer balance cap.

How to Use This Calculator

1Enter your age, salary and total super balance
2Set how much of the balance you would move into a TTR pension — this sets the 10% ceiling
3Enter the extra salary sacrifice you are considering; it is trimmed if it would breach the concessional cap
4Leave the drawdown on 'replace the take-home pay you gave up' to compare the two positions at the same net income
5Read the difference in super at the end, and the three lines showing where it comes from

What is a transition to retirement pension?

A transition to retirement income stream — a TRIS, or TTR pension — is an income stream you can start from your super once you reach preservation age, while you are still working. You must draw at least the legislated minimum for your age and no more than 10% of the account balance each financial year.

It is non-commutable: you cannot take it as a lump sum until you meet a condition of release with no cashing restriction. And it is not in the retirement phase, so the fund keeps paying 15% tax on the account's earnings.

Two things people use it for. Cutting back hours and topping the income up from super. Or staying full-time, salary sacrificing heavily, and replacing the lost take-home pay with TTR payments, which from 60 are tax-free.

At 65 it converts to an ordinary account-based pension by itself: no ceiling, no tax on earnings, and it starts counting against your transfer balance cap.

What moves the answer most

Your marginal rate: The gap between your marginal rate and the 15% contributions tax is the whole source of the tax difference. The higher your rate, the larger the gap — but the concessional cap limits how much of it you can use.
The concessional cap: $32,500 for 2026–27, with your employer's contributions counted first. It is usually the binding constraint, not the 10% ceiling.
How much you move into the TTR: The 10% ceiling is a percentage of that account, so a small transfer cannot replace a large sacrifice.
The 15% earnings tax: It applies to both accounts throughout, so splitting your balance does not reduce it. Only fully retiring or turning 65 does.
Insurance inside super: Not a tax question, and for some people the biggest consequence of the whole arrangement: starting a TTR with part of your balance can reduce or end cover attached to the account the money came from. Check with your fund before you move anything.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official Sources

Rates checked against the ATO — verified 27 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.

About this calculator

This calculator exists to show you the arithmetic. It applies published Australian rates, thresholds and formulas to the numbers you enter and shows the working, so you can check it. That is all it does — it produces a number and describes what the number is. It does not recommend anything and it holds no opinion about any financial product.

What can move this result

It only knows the figures you type in. Offsets, deductions, prior-year losses, other income, your partner's position and anything you have not entered are not in the result, and any of them can move it a long way.
Rates and thresholds change, sometimes mid-year and occasionally with retrospective effect. Each calculator shows the financial year and the verification date it is working from — outside that year the result is wrong rather than approximate.
Assumptions are set to a reasonable default and every non-statutory one can be changed. Defaults are not predictions, and a small change to a growth or inflation assumption compounds into a large change in a long projection.
Where a result reaches two or more years into the future it is shown in today's dollars as well as future dollars, because a future-dollar figure overstates what the money will actually buy.
It is a generic calculator. It is not built around any particular product, it does not compare the market, and it cannot tell you whether a product is suitable for you.

This calculator is not intended to be relied on for the purposes of making a decision in relation to a financial product. Before you make a financial decision, consider obtaining advice from someone who holds an Australian Financial Services Licence. We do not, and we cannot advise you.

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