A comfortable retirement means something different to everyone, but having a target in mind for your retirement income brings peace of mind.

There are calculators online, such as the federal government’s Moneysmart calculator, which can show you how much in today’s dollars you are likely to have at retirement, depending on your current circumstances.

This is extremely useful as it allows you to adjust your superannuation contributions if you feel you’ll be falling short of what you need.

But how do you figure out what you need in the first place?

What is a comfortable retirement?

According to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia’s (ASFA) retirement standard, singles need $56,166 in income per year to have a comfortable retirement, while couples need $78,998.

Their definition of a comfortable retirement involves the ability to afford top-level private health cover, to own and maintain a reasonable car, to travel occasionally and to afford social activities.

Keep in mind, though, that ASFA’s standard assumes you own your own home and also draw a part pension once you hit the age of 67.

How much superannuation do I need to earn $70,000 per year in passive income?

Today we’re assuming you’re aiming for an income stream of $70,000 per year.

I will calculate this on the basis of dividends alone, with no drawdown of capital.

If you were able to earn a very high dividend yield of 10%, you’d need just $700,000 in retirement savings.

I’d suggest this level of earnings is unsustainable.

If you earned just 5% you’d need double this, at $1.4 million.

But I’d argue that with the benefit of franking credits, this is aiming too low.

So let’s assume you could earn 7.5%. In this case, you’d need $933,333 in superannuation savings.

Franking credits are crucial to this equation. If you invest in fully franked dividends, you get back all the tax the company has already paid.

This is because retirees are not taxed on their superannuation earnings.

In practical terms, this means a share paying a 5% dividend yield actually pays 7.14% once franking credits are included.

So what shares might help hit this target?

Real estate investment trusts can be solid investments.

Digico Infrastructure REIT (ASX: DGT) pays a 4.65% dividend, albeit unfranked, GPT Group (ASX: GPT) pays 5.38%, and Centuria Office REIT (ASX: COF) pays 11.36%.

Infrastructure stocks such as APA Group Ltd (ASX: APA) and toll roads operator Atlas Arteria Ltd (ASX: ALX) pay healthy dividends of 5.33% and 8.98%, respectively.

Among the utilities, Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG) is paying 5.14% fully franked, AGL Energy Ltd is paying 5.9%, and Telstra Ltd (ASX: TLS) is paying 4.34%, 90% franked.

In the financial services sector, Regal Partners Ltd (ASX: RPL) is paying 11.53%, Bank of Queensland Ltd (ASX: BOQ) is paying 6.08%, and Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX: WBC) is paying 4.45%.

How to give your super a boost

If you want to top up your superannuation, it’s also worth reading up on concessional contributions, which are contributions you can make to your superannuation each year up to a cap of $32,500, which are only taxed at 15%.

Keep in mind that the $32,500 cap includes any employer contributions and salary sacrifice contributions.

The post How much superannuation do I need to earn $70,000 per year in passive income? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Are Telstra shares a good buy for passive income?
• Westpac, ANZ, NAB or CBA shares? Which ASX bank stock should I buy for $5,000 a year in passive income?
• Worried about a recession? These ASX shares would be just fine
• How much is needed in superannuation to target a $6,500 monthly passive income?
• How much superannuation is needed to target $5,500 per month in passive income?

Motley Fool contributor Cameron England 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 Apa Group and Telstra Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Well, that didn’t last long. After yesterday’s tentatively positive start to the trading week, many investors may have hoped we had turned a corner on last week’s disastrous performance of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: JO). Alas, it was not to be.

The ASX 200 started in red territory this morning and only got worse over the session. By the time trading ended, the index had lost 0.88% of its value and had settled at 8,672.5 points.

This rather terrible Tuesday for Australian investors came after a similarly downbeat night on Wall Street overnight to kick off the American trading week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) did start strong, but ended up recording a 0.29% loss.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) fared even worse, dropping 0.56%.

But let’s get back to the local markets now and take stock of how the various ASX sectors handled today’s difficult trading conditions.

Winners and losers

Despite today’s pessimism, we still saw a few sectors make hay.

But first, it was gold shares that copped the worst of it. The All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD) ended up crashing 3.08%.

Broader mining stocks had a rough one as well, with the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) cratering 2.21%.

Continuing with the commodities theme, energy shares also had a shocker. The S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) tanked 1.62% this session.

Financial stocks had a day to forget as well, illustrated by the S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ)’s 1.08% plunge.

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) fared a little better. The S&P/ASX 200 A-REIT Index (ASX: XPJ) still lost 0.59%, though.

Industrial shares were right behind that, with the S&P/ASX 200 Industrials Index (ASX: XNJ) sliding 0.43%.

Our last losers this Tuesday were utilities stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 Utilities Index (ASX: XUJ) ended up slipping down 0.12%.

Let’s turn to the green sectors now. Leading the winners were healthcare shares, as you can see from the S&P/ASX 200 Healthcare Index (ASX: XHJ)’s 1.5% surge.

Consumer staples stocks held their value, too. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ) jumped 0.88% this session.

Its consumer discretionary counterpart was just behind that, with the S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index (ASX: XDJ) leaping 0.87%.

Communications stocks were spared as well. The S&P/ASX 200 Communication Services Index (ASX: XTJ) advanced 0.32%.

Finally, tech shares managed to stay on the right side of the line, evident by the S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ)’s 0.29% bump.

Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown

Healthcare stock 4DMedical Ltd (ASX: 4DX) was our chart-topper this Tuesday. 4DMedical shares roared 8.72% higher this session to close at $3.74 each.

This came despite no fresh news or announcements from the company today.

Here’s how the other top stocks landed their planes:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
4DMedical Ltd (ASX: 4DX)	$3.74	8.72%
Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: TLX)	$17.75	8.63%
Life360 Inc (ASX: 360)	$20.52	5.02%
Perpetual Ltd (ASX: PPT)	$18.70	3.54%
News Corporation (ASX: NWS)	$47.21	3.19%
AUB Group Ltd (ASX: AUB)	$28.91	3.18%
New Hope Corporation Ltd (ASX: NHC)	$6.47	3.03%
ResMed Inc (ASX: RMD)	$31.37	2.85%
JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX: JBH)	$67.19	2.85%
Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)	$16.79	2.69%

Our top 10 shares countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary that shows which companies made big moves on the day. Check in at Fool.com.au after the weekday market closes to see which stocks make the countdown.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• ASX 200 drops again as selling continues
• $10,000 invested in Zip and New Hope shares 3 years ago is now worth…
• New Hope shares near 52-week high. Here’s what stood out in the result
• 3 ASX 200 shares tipped by experts to jump 30% to 62%

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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 Life360, Megaport, ResMed, and Telix Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Life360 and ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Aub Group and Telix Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) is a powerful ASX dividend share with an impressive market share and a proud record of paying pleasing passive income to shareholders.

However, CBA is not one of the businesses I’d buy for dividends, as impressive as the ASX bank share has been.

FY26 saw the business hike its annual dividend per share by 4% to $5.05. At the time of writing, that translates into a grossed-up dividend yield of 4.7%, including franking credits.

For me, there are other ASX dividend shares that offer a more compelling dividend yield and/or significantly more dividend growth potential. The following two stocks are much more appealing to me.

L1 Long Short Fund Ltd (ASX: LSF)

This business is a listed investment company (LIC), which means it invests in other shares/assets on behalf of shareholders. Having that diversification within a single investment is appealing compared to CBA, which is just one business and has a significant focus on providing home loans in Australia (an area of slow growth at best, right now).

L1 generally likes to look at industries and specific businesses that don’t get as much investor attention and don’t trade on high price/earnings (P/E) ratios. The investment team have delivered significant success in industries like materials, industrials and communication services.

Buying (and selling) materials shares at the right times can be very effective as investments because of how cyclical they can be.

At the end of August 2026, the ASX dividend share’s portfolio registered an average net return of 17.1% per year over the prior five years, which is strong enough to deliver both capital growth and good dividends.

In FY26, the LIC grew its annual payout by 14.5% – a much stronger growth rate than CBA.

I expect the next four quarterly dividends from L1 Long Short Fund will come to at least 16.2 cents per share, which would be a grossed-up dividend yield of 4.8%, including franking credits.

WCM Quality Global Growth Fund – Active ETF (ASX: WCMQ)

The other ASX dividend share I want to highlight is this exchange-traded fund (ETF) offering from WCM.

WCM is a fund manager based in Laguna Beach, California. That’s a deliberate choice to be so far away from the noise of Wall Street in New York.

There are two key criteria for WCM to consider a company for this portfolio. It must have a growing competitive advantage (expanding economic moat) and a corporate culture that supports the expansion of the economic moat.

The fund manager believes that the direction of the economic moat is more important than the absolute width or size. Therefore, seeing a rising return on invested capital (ROIC) – one of the main ways it measures that improvement – is more important than a large but static or declining economic moat.

Additionally, WCM has team members solely dedicated to analysing the corporate culture of a business.

Since the WCMQ ETF’s inception in August 2018, its portfolio has returned an average of 14.9% (net), compared to a 12.8% return per year for the global share market.

The ASX dividend share aims to provide a minimum annualised cash dividend yield of 5%. That’s a stronger starting yield than CBA shares and I expect the distribution can grow at a faster pace over the long-term by focusing on high-quality shares.

The post Forget CBA shares! Buy these ASX dividend shares instead for passive income appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 drops again as selling continues
• Down 12%: Are CBA shares a buy, sell or hold now?
• Westpac, ANZ, NAB or CBA shares? Which ASX bank stock should I buy for $5,000 a year in passive income?
• How much is needed in superannuation to target a $6,500 monthly passive income?
• Vanguard ETFs vs. Betashares ETFs: Who’s coming out on top?

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has positions in L1 Long Short Fund and Wcm Quality Global Growth Fund. 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.