| Transition to Retirement Income account | Retirement Income account | |
| How much can I withdraw each year? | A maximum of 10% annually | No annual limit |
| How are investment earnings taxed? | 15% | Tax-free |
| Eligible to receive a one-off Retirement Bonus | No |
Yes. Activating a Retirement income account can earn you a bonus of up to $9,500. |
| Can I use a transition to retirement strategy? | Yes | Yes |
Have you turned 65?
When you turn 65 we’ll automatically convert your Transition to Retirement Income account to a Retirement Income account. This means you’ll no longer have a maximum limit and your investment earnings become tax-free.Have you retired or changed jobs?
When you tell us you’ve retired or you’ve changed jobs after turning 60, we’ll convert your Transition to Retirement Income account to a Retirement Income account.If you wish to restart your account with additional contributions after this conversion you will need to meet an additional condition of release.
Please call us on 13 11 84 to tell us if you've retired or changed jobs.
What you need to know before converting your Transition to Retirement Income account
It’s important to know that your account is moving from the ‘accumulation phase’ to the ‘retirement phase’. From 1 July 2021 there is a limit that can be held within the ‘retirement phase’ across all superannuation accounts. This limit is known as the ‘transfer balance cap’. You will have a personal transfer balance cap up to $1.9 million on the total amount you can have in one or more superannuation retirement pensions like Australian Retirement Trust’s Retirement Income account. You can find out your personal transfer balance cap by contacting the ATO or logging into MyGov.
If you exceed the transfer balance cap you may have to pay more tax, so it’s important to consider how much of your balance you choose to move into a Retirement Income account and what options you have for any amount over the cap. The ATO may also force you to commute any excess amount from your Retirement Income account and the indexation of your transfer balance cap may be impacted. Special rules also apply for Income accounts that are setup for a reversionary beneficiary following the death of a member.
For more information refer to the ATO website by visiting www.ato.gov.au.