Imagine you have $3m in super and have just retired, only to hear that Labor plans to hit you with a new tax.
Or perhaps you’re worried (dream?) that at some point in the near or distant future you might cross that multi-million-dollar savings threshold.
Either way, you might be wondering whether the government’s proposal to whack an extra 15% tax on earnings on balances over $3m is going to put a major crimp in your retirement plans.
Breathe easy, your annual trips to Europe are safe, as are your smashed avocado brekkies.
According to Guardian Australia’s analysis, a wealthy Australian retiring with $3m in super today would pay an extra $2,355 in tax.
And that’s from annual retirement income of more than $170,000, based on an estimate from Asic’s MoneySmart retirement calculator.
In other words, the tax represents barely 1% of your income.
If that doesn’t make you feel better, then remember that the median full-time salary in Australia is $88,400, according to the ABS, and $72,590 across all employees.
So you are making nearly twice the median full-time salary – and those suckers are paying income tax!
What, still not convinced?
Well, consider this: The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia reckons that a single person with a paltry $595,000 in savings can generate a “comfortable” lifestyle in retirement with $51,807 in income a year.
You’re making more than three times as much, even after paying Labor’s damned extra tax!
What’s that? You only have $800,000 in savings? Gosh, how sad. (If it makes you feel any better, that’s still four times the median super balance among 65-69 year-olds, according to the ATO).
Don’t worry, though, you won’t be paying the proposed extra 15% tax - remember it only starts kicking in on balances over $3m.
And anyway, you can still live pretty well on $67,000 a year, tax-free.
That all sounds OK for the small-fry with $3m in super.
But what about the serious savers with $5m? How much extra tax will they have to suffer in the name of making the super system “fairer”?
Bad news. They could be paying something like an extra $25,000 in tax under the proposed policy, if they earn the average 7.5% annual return in the year.
The good news is that they’ll still have nearly $270,000 left over to … wait, can a single retiree even spend that much in a year?
