During your working life you receive regular income in the form of a salary or business income. In retirement, this regular income stops, so you need to draw on your savings to meet your lifestyle costs. You set up your savings so you still receive regular payments, just like a salary. This is called a ‘retirement income stream’.
The type of income stream you can start at retirement depends on whether your savings are inside or outside of super.
Transition to retirement is a strategy that can help you reduce your working hours while maintaining the same level of income. This is achieved by drawing a pension from superannuation using the ‘transition to retirement’ condition of release.
Everyone who is preservation age (currently 55) but less than 65 years of age is eligible to commence a non-commutable allocated pension.
Non-commutable allocated pensions (NCAPs) have been popular since the federal government’s transition to retirement rules were introduced in 2005. This is because NCAPs allow older Australians access to their preserved super benefits without having to retire.
Key benefits of an NCAP strategy may include:
