Teacher Retirement Planner: Defined Benefit & Super

In short

The AI Teacher Retirement & Defined Benefit Planner turns your state, super scheme, age, service, salary and target retirement age into a general-information retirement timeline. It flags your scheme's key ages and rules (such as SASS at 58, Gold State and ESSSuper from 55, preservation age 60), compares part-time, transition to retirement and salary sacrifice, and lists the questions to ask your fund.

How to use the ai retirement & defined benefit planner

1

Choose your state and scheme

Pick where you teach and the scheme on your benefit statement: an accumulation fund such as Aware Super or GESB Super, or a defined benefit scheme such as ESSSuper's Revised or New Scheme, State Super SASS or SSS, QSuper Defined Benefit, Gold State Super, Super SA's Pension or Lump Sum Scheme, Triple S, or Commonwealth CSS or PSS.
2

Enter your age, service and salary

Add your date of birth, years of service (and any part-time or leave without pay years), your current salary or step, and your balance or the multiple, points or benefit shown on your latest statement.
3

Set a target retirement age

Tell the planner when you'd like to stop, or compare two dates. It checks that date against preservation age, your scheme's own access age and Age Pension age (67).
4

Read your timeline and take the questions to your fund

You get a year-by-year timeline, scheme notes, the trade-offs of going part-time, starting a TTR or salary sacrificing, and a list of exact questions to ask your fund or a licensed adviser.

What the planner covers

Older teachers often hold the most complicated super in Australia: a closed state defined benefit scheme, an accumulation account for extra contributions, and long service leave that can be taken or paid out. Each scheme has its own access age, salary definition and rules on part-time work. The planner puts those rules next to your own dates so you can see which decisions matter and which questions to ask.

Schemes the planner recognises, with the rule it checks first

Scheme	Type	Key rule the planner applies
NSW State Super SASS	Lump sum DB plus personal account	Benefit generally payable on leaving from 58 (55 for some transferees); employer benefit of 2.5% of final average salary per point, up to 180 points
NSW State Super SSS	Pension DB	Normal retirement 60, reduced early retirement from 55; one chance to commute within set windows
VIC ESSSuper Revised Scheme	Lifetime pension DB	Pension from minimum retirement age 55; convert up to 50% or 100% to a lump sum within 3 months of retiring
VIC ESSSuper New Scheme	Lump sum DB	Accrual of 8.5% to 21% of final average salary a year, depending on contribution rate
QLD QSuper Defined Benefit (ART)	Lump sum DB	Benefit = multiple x final salary; 0.21 a year at the default 5%
WA GESB Gold State Super	Lump sum DB (untaxed)	Access from 55 on leaving the WA public sector; service multiple x final remuneration
SA Super SA Pension and Lump Sum Schemes	Pension DB / hybrid	Generally from 55 on leaving the SA public sector
SA Triple S, GESB Super, Aware Super and other accumulation funds	Accumulation	Preservation age 60 and the Commonwealth conditions of release
Commonwealth CSS and PSS (CSC)	DB / hybrid	Scheme rules flagged; the planner asks you to confirm figures with CSC

Rules from State Super, ESSSuper, QSuper, GESB and Super SA, checked 20 October 2026. Your annual benefit statement and the fund's own quote always override the planner.

What a plan looks like

Here's a summary of the kind of output you get. It's an illustration built from published scheme rules, not a real member's plan.

Worked example

Example: WA teacher, age 57, Gold State Super, 30 years' service, wants to stop at 60

Scheme access: Gold State: from 55 on leaving the WA public sector
Preservation age: 60 (born after 30 June 1964)
Service multiple at a 5% average rate, 33 years by 60: 6.6 x final remuneration
Part-time from 58 at 0.6 FTE: multiple grows more slowly: about 6.44 by 60
Tax flag: Untaxed scheme: 15% on the untaxed element when rolled into a taxed fund or income stream (up to the $1.935m untaxed plan cap)
Questions generated: 8, including 'What is my Final Remuneration if I go part-time?'

Main trade-off shown two days a week back vs a lower service multiple

Multiples use GESB's formula: (completed months / 12) x 20% x (average contribution rate / 5). Final remuneration is worked out on full-time-equivalent salary, even for part-time staff. GESB's own estimate is the authority.

Every plan includes a timeline from today to 67, your scheme notes, the options with trade-offs (part-time, transition to retirement, salary sacrifice, using long service leave), and a short checklist for each year. Read the scheme guides for the detail: ESSSuper, NSW SASS and SSS, QSuper Defined Benefit, Gold State Super and Super SA.

What it won't do

Recommend a fund, product, investment option or adviser.
Tell you whether to retire, resign, commute a pension or leave a defined benefit scheme. It shows what changes and what to ask.
Replace your fund's benefit estimate. DB formulas have adjustments (transfers, prior service, salary maintenance, notional contributions) that only the fund can apply.
Assess Age Pension eligibility. It reminds you that the pension is means tested and points you to Services Australia.

Before you start, read when teachers can retire, the retirement checklist and can teachers retire at 60?.

Frequently asked questions

Is the retirement planner financial advice?

No. It gives general information based on published scheme rules and the details you enter. It doesn't consider your whole situation, and only an AFS licensee or its authorised representative can give personal financial advice. Use it to prepare for a conversation with your fund or a licensed adviser.

Which super schemes does it cover?

Accumulation funds such as Aware Super, GESB Super and Triple S, and the closed teacher defined benefit schemes: ESSSuper Revised and New Schemes, State Super SASS and SSS, QSuper Defined Benefit, Gold State Super, Super SA's Pension and Lump Sum Schemes, and Commonwealth CSS and PSS.

Do I need my benefit statement?

It helps a lot. Your statement shows your accrued multiple, points or benefit, your average contribution rate and your scheme's retirement age, which make the timeline far more useful.

Can it tell me when I can retire?

It shows the key ages for your scheme and date of birth, such as preservation age 60, your scheme's own access age (55 or 58 in some schemes) and Age Pension age 67. Your fund confirms what applies to you.

Does it work for part-time teachers?

Yes. Enter your FTE history. In most DB schemes, part-time years add a smaller multiple or fewer points, while final salary is often worked out on a full-time-equivalent basis. The planner shows that trade-off.

How much does it cost?

Your first plan is free. The full planner costs A$29.99 once and gives you 12 months of use.

Will it tell me which fund to choose?

No. It never recommends a fund or product. It lists the questions to ask, such as fees, insurance and how a rollover would be taxed, so you can compare options yourself or with an adviser.

Is my information stored?

The planner uses what you enter to build your plan. Don't enter your member number, TFN or account login. Ages, dates, salary and balances are all it needs.

Guides that go with this tool

Retirement

When can teachers retire in Australia? Super, pension and scheme ages

The ages that decide when a teacher can retire: preservation age 60, Age Pension 67, and the different rules in state defined benefit schemes.

Super

Teacher defined benefit super schemes: state by state, with formulas

Every closed state teacher defined benefit scheme, when it closed, how the benefit formula works and the traps for long-serving teachers.

Retirement

Transition to retirement for teachers: how TTR works, with real numbers

How a transition to retirement income stream works for teachers aged 60 to 64, two worked strategies, and when it doesn't help.