The rules of super by age

Growing your super

Generally, if you earn $450 or more (before tax) in a calendar month, your employer is required to pay superannuation contributions worth 10% (2021/22) of your base wage or salary known as Superannuation Guarantee contributions (SG). If you are aged under 18 years, or if you work in a private or domestic capacity (for example, you are a nanny), you will also need to work more than 30 hours per week to qualify for employer-paid superannuation contributions.

You can continue to receive superannuation guarantee contributions from your employer right up to the day you retire, regardless of your age.

Super caps by age

Annual limits apply to how much you can add to your super depending on the type of contribution and your age.

Before-tax contributions

Before-tax (concessional) superannuation contributions – including salary sacrifice contributions plus employer contributions, are generally limited to $27,500 in the 2021/22 financial year.

In addition, workers with less than $500,000 in superannuation at the end of the previous financial year may be able to contribute more than the general concessional cap by carrying forward their unused concessional cap amounts (accrued from 1 July 2018) for up to five financial years.

After-tax contributions

Superannuation contributions made using after-tax money (non-concessional contributions) are limited to $110,000 in the 2021/22 financial year, or $330,000 as long as you make no further after-tax contributions for the following two years.

If your total superannuation balance is $1.7 million or more, you will not be able to make additional after-tax contributions.  There are also restrictions on the maximum amount you can contribute if your total superannuation balance is between $1.48 and $1.7 million on 30 June at the end of the previous financial year.  

Once you reach age 67, you must meet the work test or qualify for the work test exemption before you can make voluntary after-tax contributions^. The work test requires you to work for at least 40 hours over any consecutive 30-day period during the financial year.

If you are aged between 67 and 74 you may make voluntary contributions where you do not satisfy the work test provided that:

• you satisfied the work test in the financial year prior to the financial year in which the contributions are made,
• you had a total superannuation balance of less than $300,000 at the end of the previous financial year, and
• you have not used the work test exemption previously.

Once you reach age 75, you can no longer make voluntary contributions to superannuation.

Downsizer contributions

If you’re aged 65 years or older* and meet the eligibility requirements, you may be able to make a downsizer contribution into your superannuation of up to $300,000 after the sale of your main residence, which you need to have owned for at least 10 years.

There are several benefits to this. Your downsizer contribution isn’t a non-concessional contribution, it doesn’t count towards your contributions caps and you can still make it regardless of your total super balance.

The contribution of up to $300,000 must be made within 90 days of the sale and your spouse may also be eligible to contribute up to $300,000 if they’re aged 65 or older^*. A further benefit is there’s no upper age limit nor any work test eligibility.

Accessing your superannuation

You can start to withdraw from your super account when you reach ‘preservation age’. This varies depending on when you were born as shown in the table below.

Once you reach age 65, you can access your superannuation even if you haven’t retired.

Next: Retirement planning in your 50s