There are all sorts of reasons for taking a break from your job. Whether you’re in your 30s, 40s or 50s, raising a family, caring for a loved one or just taking unpaid leave for your own wellbeing, a career gap – and loss of regular income – can affect your super.

Our career break calculator can give you a good estimate of what that cost might be.

Taking a career break?

See how this will affect your super

I currently work Full time Part time

My salary before tax is

I will be away from work for Months

I will be returning to work Full time Part time

Assumptions

You're missing out on ,XXX super contributions

But don’t worry, there are ways to keep your super on track while you’re not working

Salary sacrifice into your super before you take your break (saves tax too)

Salary sacrifice extra $ into your super while you are working and then you’ll have more money to enjoy in retirement.

Salary sacrifice

Get your partner to add to your super

If your partner adds to your super they can get a tax offset while also helping to keep your super growing.

Spouse super

If you have multiple super accounts, roll them into one so you can save on fees

Extra accounts can cost $50,000 by the time you retire*. Now is the right time to roll your other accounts into one super account.

Transfer

Check again Assumptions

Assumptions

The calculator assumes you do not receive any super contributions during your career break
Full time is considered to be five days or more per week
Superannuation Guarantee Contribution is currently 11.5% of ordinary time earnings and is presently legislated to incrementally increase to 12% by 2025
The calculation assumes no change to superannuation guarantee or wage rates
The dollars shown are not discounted for inflation
The 'missing out' figure is calculated according to the time you will be away from work plus any period thereafter where you are working less days than before you took your career break

Disclaimer

This tool is not intended to be relied upon for the purposes of making a financial decision. Consider a fund's PDS and your objectives, financial situation and needs, which are not accounted for in this information before making an investment decision. You are responsible for your own investment decisions and should obtain specific, individual advice from a financial services licensee before making any financial decisions.

Making the most of a lower income

If you are on a lower income, you may be eligible for a Government Co-contribution to your super. Under this scheme, for every dollar that you contribute voluntarily to your super, the Australian Government will contribute 50 cents to your account up to a maximum of $500 per year.

If you are earning during your career break, but less than $60,400 per year, it is worth checking whether you are eligible.