How much superannuation is needed to target a $50,000 annual passive income?

Superannuation is more than just a savings pot to fund your retirement. 

Your super offers the bonus of concessional tax rates, and you can grow your balance through compounding.

But that’s not all.

Did you know that you can also earn a passive income off your balance once you transition to retirement?

But how much superannuation do you need to accumulate to target the passive income amount that you want to receive?

Here’s a breakdown, using a target of $50,000 per year in passive income as an example.

How much do I need in my superannuation to get $50,000 per year in passive income?

The calculation is straightforward. 

You need to divide your annual passive income by the dividend yield of your overall portfolio and it’ll tell you how much you need to invest.

For example, $50,000 ÷ 3% = $1.66 million (that’s the superannuation portfolio size you’d need).

The catch is that the answer varies significantly depending on what yield you pick.

But the good news is that as your portfolio’s dividend yield increases, the superannuation balance needed to earn the same passive income decreases. 

That means a portfolio with a dividend yield of around 6% only needs to be half the size of one with a dividend yield of around 3% to generate the same level of passive income.

Break it down for me by yield

We already know what portfolio size you’d need to earn $50,000 per year off a 3% yielding account.

But if your overall portfolio has a slightly higher dividend yield of around 4%, you’ll need a balance of around $1.25 million to earn the same $50,000 per year in passive income.

If the yield of your portfolio is higher still, at around 5% for example, your balance would need to be closer to $1 million to earn the same dividend income.

For a 6% yielding portfolio, you’d need a balance of closer to $834,000 to earn the same amount again.

Increase that to a 7%, 8%, or 9% dividend yield, and you’re looking at closer to $714,000, $625,000 or $556,000, respectively. 

And so on…

You’d still earn $50,000 per year in passive income from each of these superannuation balance sizes.

What ASX shares can I buy with my superannuation around a 3-4% yield?

There are plenty of options, but here are some good options to get you started.

Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX: LOV), Lottery Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLC), Eagers Automotive Ltd (ASX: APE), Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS), and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) all yield around 3% to 4% at the time of writing.

What about the middle ground, closer to a 5-6% yield?

If you’re looking for a higher yield, something like long-standing ASX dividend stock APA Group (ASX: APA) is a good option, as is Sonic Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SHL) and Metcash Ltd (ASX: MTS). These ASX shares all yield between 5% and 6% at the time of writing.

And what are my options for high-yielding shares?

There are also some higher-yielding shares around the 8% level, or even higher. However, it’s worth noting that these come with more risk. For high-yielding options, I’d stick with something like the BetaShares Australian Top 20 Equities Yield Maximiser Complex ETF (ASX: YMAX), or a defensive ASX share like IPH Ltd (ASX: IPH).