Your superannuation is more than just a pot of savings to fund your retirement. It can also generate a regular passive income once you retire and transition to the pension phase. 

But exactly how much superannuation do you need to be able to earn passive income as high as $50,000 every single year?

Let’s investigate.

How much do I need in my superannuation to generate an annual $50,000 passive income?

The calculation is simple. You need to divide your annual passive income by the dividend yield of your total portfolio, and it’ll give you the amount you’ll need to invest.

The tricky part is that the answer varies significantly depending on your portfolio’s actual yield.

That means a 3% yielding superannuation portfolio would need to be double the size of one that yields 6%.

For $50,000 in passive income on a portfolio yielding 3%, you’d need a superannuation balance of around $1.66 million, because $50,000 ÷ 3% = $1,666,666.

Then, if your portfolio yields closer to 4%, you’d need a superannuation balance closer to $1.25 million to earn the same passive income.

To earn $50,000 per year on a 5% yielding portfolio, your balance would need to be around $1 million.

Increase that to 6%, and you’d need more like $833,000.

If you go higher again to 7% or 8%, you’d be able to earn $50,000 in annual passive income from a $714,000 or $625,000 balance, respectively.

And so on. The higher your yield is, the lower your superannuation balance needs to be.

Can’t I just invest in the highest-yielding ASX shares so that I can earn the same amount off of a lower superannuation balance?

Yes, but it doesn’t make good investment sense. 

When it comes to ASX dividend shares, generally the higher the yield, the higher the risk associated with that stock.

Ideally, you want a diversified portfolio of a range of good-quality ASX shares from different sectors and with a variety of different yields. 

And remember, you don’t need to invest the whole sum in one go. Start with a monthly investment and let compound growth do some of the hard work for you.

Give me some examples of ASX shares that I could look at

ASX blue-chip shares like BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), and CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) all yield around the 3% level.

If you want something that yields a little higher, at around 4% or 5%, my picks would be something like Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS), Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV) and NIB Holdings Ltd (ASX: NHF).

Then, for higher-yielding ASX shares, my picks would be APA Group (ASX: APA), Metcash Ltd (ASX: MTS), Fortescue Ltd (ASX: FMG), or Lendlease Group (ASX: LLC). At the time of writing, these shares yield between 6% and 8%.

The post How much do I need in my superannuation to earn $50,000 per year in passive income? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Buy, hold, sell: Aristocrat, Telstra, ANZ shares
• Why is everyone talking about CSL, Pro Medicus and BHP shares on Tuesday?
• How to find ASX shares that Warren Buffett might buy
• How many BHP shares do I need to buy for $1,000 per month of passive income?
• BHP Group posts record FY26 earnings and flags copper-led future

Motley Fool contributor Samantha Menzies has positions in BHP Group. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Apa Group, NIB Holdings, and Telstra Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BHP Group and CSL. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares are up 0.1% to 9,082 points on Tuesday.

Among the 11 market sectors, materials and miners are in the lead today, up 1.3%.

The financials and technology sectors lag behind, both down 1.5%.

Let’s check out some new ratings on ASX 200 shares today.

Bank of Queensland Ltd (ASX: BOQ)

The Bank of Queensland share price is $6.36, down 1.1% today and down 19% over 12 months. 

Morgans has an accumulate rating on the ASX 200 financial share with a reduced price target of $6.94.

The broker said: 

BOQ announced finalisation of its capital return related to the equipment finance whole-loan sale, alongside completion of ME customer migration to its digital bank platform.

We make material forecast downgrades. Target price reduced to $6.94/sh. ACCUMULATE retained at current prices, but noting only a c.13% potential TSR including the special dividend.

BOQ is trading on c.0.9x P:TBV and c.11x PER.

PLS Group Ltd (ASX: PLS)

The PLS Group share price is $4.95, down 2.8% today and up 118% over 12 months. 

Arthur Garipoli from Dolphin Partners has a hold rating on this ASX 200 lithium mining share. 

He said (courtesy The Bull): 

This high quality pure play lithium producer recently delivered a solid June quarter report in fiscal year 2026.

Sales were up 28 per cent compared to the March quarter and group revenue was up 31 per cent.

The company has benefited from rising spodumene prices and sustains a solid balance sheet.

Restarting the Ngungaju processing plant is expected to materially lift sales into full year 2027.

Speculation exists that PLS may resume paying dividends following stronger than expected cash generation in full year 2026.

Xero Ltd (ASX: XRO)

The Xero share price is $81.13, down 1.2% today and down 52% over 12 months. 

Tom Fairchild from Lazarus Capital Partners has a sell rating on the accounting software provider.

He said: 

The company generated revenue of $NZ2.75 billion in full year 2026, up 31 per cent on the prior corresponding period.

Xero shares bounced off a low of $61.58 on July 24 to trade at $77.51 on August 13, 2026.

However, the stock was priced at $168.78 on August 13, 2025.

Justifiable investor concerns about margin pressure, artificial intelligence growth and US expansion performance have weighed on the stock and sentiment. Investors can consider cashing in some gains.

The post Buy, hold, sell: Bank of Queensland, Xero, PLS Group shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Experts name 3 popular ASX 200 shares to sell today
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• 3 ASX tech shares with strong growth potential
• 3 top dividend stocks to target this week to supplement your superannuation
• How an Australian could retire with $1 million in superannuation

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 positions in and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Xero. 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 climbing higher in early morning trade on Tuesday, after the ASX mining giant posted a record FY26 earnings result.

The group posted a strong operational performance across all its key segments and an impressive 27% increase in its underlying EBITDA. 

Investors are clearly thrilled with the results and many are rushing to snap up the mining shares.

At the time of writing, BHP shares are trading at $64.44. That’s around a 4% increase for the day so far and around 41% higher for the year to date.

A strong financial result and climbing share price isn’t the only reason investors are interested in the stock. Investors are also thrilled with the miner’s higher-than-forecasted FY26 dividend and opportunity for passive income.

But what if you wanted to receive $1,000 of passive income from BHP shares every single month? How achievable is it? And what exactly would it entail?

Let’s take a look.

What dividends does BHP pay to its shareholders?

BHP has a history of paying reliable and consistent fully-franked dividends to its shareholders every year, in March and September.  

As part of its FY26 earnings announcement this morning, BHP declared a total fully-franked FY26 dividend of US$1.72 per share. This includes a US$0.73 interim and a US$0.99 final dividend. 

The exact Australian dollar equivalent won’t be fixed by BHP until the currency conversion period concludes on the 7th of September. But at the time of writing, US$1.72 per share equates to around AU$2.41.

Based on the current share price, this estimated converted dividend translates to a dividend yield of around 3.7%.

How many BHP shares do I need to generate $1,000 per month in passive income?

A $1,000 per month passive income totals $12,000 for the year. Using the figures above, in order to generate $12,000 per year in passive income from BHP shares alone, an investor would need to buy roughly 4,979 shares.

How much would that cost me today?

At the time of writing, to buy the 4,979 shares needed for $1,000 per month (or $12,000 per year) of passive income, you would need to invest close to $321,000. 

It’s not a small investment, but it could be worth it in the long run. BHP shares offer both a consistent passive income and also the opportunity for capital returns thanks to its healthy business financials and growing share price.

Also note that you don’t need to invest that entire sum in one go. Start small and let compound growth do some of the work for you.  

The post How many BHP shares do I need to buy for $1,000 per month of passive income? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why is everyone talking about CSL, Pro Medicus and BHP shares on Tuesday?
• How much do I need in my superannuation to earn $50,000 per year in passive income?
• BHP Group posts record FY26 earnings and flags copper-led future
• A200 vs NDQ: one Betashares ETF is the clear winner
• Reporting season half-time report: 5 lessons from August so far

Motley Fool contributor Samantha Menzies has positions in BHP Group. 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.