Single pensioners will get an extra $36.80 per fortnight under inflation adjustments to the age pension effective today.

This raises the full pension payment to $1,237.70 per fortnight.

Couples on the full pension will receive an extra $27.80 per partner, per fortnight, or $55.60 combined per fortnight, from today.

This increases the full pension to $933 per partner, per fortnight, or $1,866 combined per fortnight.

Is the pension enough to fund your retirement?

No, it’s not.

Annually, the newly adjusted full age pension totals $32,180.20 for singles and $48,516 for couples.

The ASFA Retirement Standard, which is considered Australia’s benchmark retirement budgeting tool, lays out the costs of living today.

AFSA says a comfortable retirement costs $56,166 per year for single homeowners and $78,998 per year for couple homeowners.

A modest retirement costs $36,548 per year for single homeowners and $52,690 per year for couple homeowners.

For renters, a modest lifestyle costs $51,418 per year for singles and $69,376 for couples.

ASFA does not provide a cost estimate for a comfortable retirement for renters.

These figures are in today’s dollars, and ASFA adjusts them quarterly to account for inflation.

ASFA lays out exactly what it means by a ‘comfortable’ retirement and a ‘modest’ lifestyle here.

What’s the gap?

For a comfortable retirement, single homeowners receiving the full age pension need to plug a $23,985.80 hole every year.

Couple homeowners aiming for a comfortable retirement need to find $30,482 per year to cover the gap.

For a modest retirement, single homeowners receiving the full pension need another $4,367.80 to cover their living costs.

Couple homeowners getting the full pension need to find $4,174 per year to fund a modest retirement lifestyle.

Single renters on a full pension face a gap of $19,237.80 per year to fund a modest retirement.

Couple renters on a full age pension need to find $20,860 per year to fund their costs of living.

So, how do you find that extra money?

The most obvious way, of course, is superannuation.

When people retire, they typically transfer their superannuation from the accumulation phase into an account-based pension.

This moves their super into what’s known as the retirement phase, where investment earnings are generally tax-free.

Pension payments from your superannuation are also generally tax-free once you’re aged 60 or over.

But there’s a catch…

If you have a large amount of money in superannuation, you’re unlikely to be eligible for the full age pension from Centrelink.

However, as you draw down your super throughout retirement, you may eventually become eligible for the full payment, depending on the value of all your assets combined.

The pension is means tested using an assets test and an income test.

Assessable assets include your superannuation, ASX shares, bonds, investment properties, cash, and home contents.

Under the assets test, single homeowners whose assets are worth less than $333,000 qualify for the full age pension.

Single homeowners whose assets are worth between $333,001 and $745,750 are eligible for a part-payment.

Couple homeowners whose assets are worth less than $499,000 qualify for the full age pension.

Couple homeowners who have between $499,001 and $1,121,000 in assets are eligible for a part-payment.

The post Age pension rises $37 per fortnight today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Retiring with $1 million in superannuation to support a comfortable retirement is a great goal.

And, depending on your lifetime salary and whether you make additional voluntary contributions to your super over time, it’s certainly an achievable figure.

As for how much passive income you can earn from that $1 million balance, that will, of course, depend on the yield that you’re earning.

Now, for the purposes of this article, we’ll assume you have a sizeable amount of additional assets, as well as other liquid savings and investments to cover any unexpected costs. If not, it’s generally not advisable to invest all of your superannuation into the stock market.

But if that is the case, it could enable you to invest the full $1 million in quality S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) dividend stocks. With history as our guide, this is a great means to achieve a reliable annual passive income stream.

We’ll look at a few of those quality ASX 200 dividend stocks below, as well as calculate how much passive income you might expect to receive from that $1 million in superannuation.

But first…

Inflation and trailing yields

The idea behind this $1 million superannuation investment is to earn an annual passive income stream without drawing down on the balance. You’ll also want to at least match inflation levels to ensure the real (inflation-adjusted) income you’re earning isn’t eroded over time.

Now, the S&P/ASX 200 Gross Total Return Index (ASX: XJT), which includes all cash dividends reinvested on the ex-dividend date, has gained 42.2% over the past five years. That works out to an annualised return of about 7.3% per year.

Remember that figure.

Also, remember that the dividend yields you usually see quoted are trailing yields. Future yields may be higher or lower depending on a number of company-specific and macroeconomic factors.

With that said…

How much passive income from a $1 million superannuation investment

We’ll look at three ASX 200 dividend stocks to give you some idea of the yield you might receive from that superannuation investment (based on market prices on 10 September).

First, Aussie fuel supplier Ampol Ltd (ASX: ALD) shares trade on a fully-franked trailing dividend yield of 5.7%.

Then we have big four ASX 200 bank stock Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC). Westpac shares trade on a fully-franked 4.4% trailing dividend yield.

And third, ASX 200 telco Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS) shares trade on a 4.3% trailing dividend yield, franked at 90%.

If you were to invest the same amount into each of the above ASX 200 dividend stocks, you could then expect a yield of 4.8%.

So, your $1 million superannuation should see you earning $48,000 a year in passive income, with tax benefits from those franking credits.

Now remember the 7.3% annualised gains posted by the S&P/ASX 200 Gross Total Return Index? That extra 2.5% in annual growth over the passive income yield should be enough to mitigate the eroding effects of inflation over time.

The post I’m planning to retire with $1 million in superannuation. How much passive income can I earn?  appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Telstra Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shares are among the most popular ASX dividend shares because of the company’s perceived strength and dividend yield.

The ASX mining share can offer a high dividend yield, though peers like Fortescue Ltd (ASX: FMG) and Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) typically offer a higher yield.

However, while BHP may not always offer the highest dividend yield on the ASX, it can provide shareholders with diversification rather than dependence on a single commodity, which is appealing.

BHP produces iron ore, copper and coal. It’s also working on a potash (fertiliser) project in Canada called Jansen. By generating earnings from multiple resources, the business is able to lower the risk and volatility of being exposed to just one resource.

I thought the FY26 result was a great example of the ASX mining share’s ability to generate larger profits and dividends.

In FY26, BHP’s board of directors increased the annual dividend per share by 56% to US$1.72.

The business reported revenue growth of 15% to US$58.8 billion, underlying attributable profit growth of 30% to US$13.2 billion, profit from operations growth of 23% to US$23.9 billion and underlying operating profit (EBITDA) growth of 27% to US$32.9 billion.

Copper was the key driver of the result, with the average realised (meaning sold) price soaring 35% to US$5.74 per pound. This helped copper’s underlying operating profit (EBITDA) rise 48% to US$18.2 billion. Rising demand helped, particularly from electrification and data centres.

In this article, we’re not thinking about FY26 payments. We’re going to look at the potential FY27 annual dividend, which will be paid in 2027.

2027 dividend projection for owners of BHP shares

According to the projection on CMC Invest, the ASX mining share is projected to pay an annual dividend per share of $2.07 in the 2027 financial year, representing a sizeable potential reduction for Australians.

At the time of writing, that translates into a dividend yield of 3.4% excluding franking credits and 4.9% including franking credits.

If someone were to invest $15,000 in BHP, they would be able to buy 246 BHP shares, with a little bit of money left over.

With those 246 BHP shares, investors would receive $509.22 in passive income and $727.46 overall, including franking credits.

Is this a good time to invest in the ASX mining share?

According to CMC Invest, there have been 15 analyst rating calls on the business in the last three months.

Of those 15, 13 were a hold rating, one was a buy rating, and one was a sell rating. The investment professionals are very neutral on the appeal of the company’s valuation right now.

The average price target of those 15 ratings is $59.23. That means those analysts collectively predict the BHP share price could fall by 2% within the next year (at the time of writing).

For now, it seems like there are better ASX shares for Australians to buy.

The post If I invest $15,000 in BHP shares, how much passive income will I receive in 2027? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BHP Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.