Budget your salary
See your real take-home pay, set a savings rate you can live with, and watch what it could grow into over time.
Your take-home pay
$5,607/mo
$67,280 a year after income tax & Medicare.
$1,121/mo
$4,485/mo
A popular starting point: the 50 / 30 / 20 rule
$2,803
$1,682
$1,121
Take-home uses 2026-27 resident tax rates + Medicare levy. The 50/30/20 rule is a guideline, not a prescription. Excludes HECS/HELP, salary sacrifice and private health. A guide, not financial advice.
Almost every pay conversation in Australia happens in gross terms — the number on your contract, the number in the job ad. No household decision runs on that number. Rent, groceries and repayments come out of what lands in your account once income tax and the Medicare levy are gone, and the gap is wide enough to wreck a plan built on the wrong figure.
So this page starts with take-home pay, turns it into a monthly amount, then asks the question that does most of the work: what share of it are you keeping? A savings rate travels better than a dollar target, and it decides how long anything you are saving for actually takes.
How this is calculated
- 1
Turn your salary into take-home pay
The salary you enter is treated as your taxable income for 2026-27 and taxed at resident rates band by band — the first $18,200 is untaxed, and each higher rate applies only to the income inside that band, never to the whole salary. The 2% Medicare levy is added on top, phasing in gradually at low incomes.
- 2
Divide it into a monthly figure
Annual net pay is divided by twelve. That is a planning month, not a pay cycle: if you are paid fortnightly you get twenty-six payments a year, so two months quietly carry an extra pay.
- 3
Apply your savings rate
The slider runs from saving nothing to saving half your take-home pay, splitting the monthly figure into an amount put aside and an amount left to spend, then annualising the saving.
- 4
Compound what you put aside
The ten-year figure is the future value of an ordinary annuity: one year's saving is invested at the end of each year and grows at a fixed 7% for the years remaining. Straight compound interest — no inflation adjustment, no fees, no tax on earnings.
- 5
Check it against 50 / 30 / 20
The monthly figure is also split 50% needs, 30% wants, 20% savings as a reference point. The detailed builder goes further: enter each line at whatever frequency suits it — weekly groceries, monthly rent, yearly rego — and each is converted to an annual amount before being bucketed into those three groups.
What it assumes
- Your salary is treated as your only taxable income — no deductions, tax offsets, investment income or second job.
- HECS/HELP, salary sacrifice and the Medicare levy surcharge are excluded. If any apply, the take-home pay calculator gives a lower and more complete net figure.
- Enter your gross salary before super. If your package is quoted as total remuneration including super, use the salary component only.
- The 7% return is a fixed assumption, not a forecast, and it is nominal. The detailed builder lets you change both the return and the horizon.
- 50 / 30 / 20 is a rule of thumb with no official standing in Australia — a reference line, not a benchmark you are failing.
- Nothing you type is sent anywhere: your salary stays in your own browser, and budget lines are not stored at all.
Common questions
Why doesn't this match what my employer actually deposits?
This is a full-year calculation, while your employer withholds tax pay by pay using the ATO's withholding schedules — the difference is what squares up in your tax return. Anything else deducted from your pay, such as salary sacrifice or a study loan repayment, lowers the deposit further.
What savings rate should I aim for?
There is no correct answer, which is why the tool gives you a slider rather than a verdict. The 50 / 30 / 20 rule implies 20%, but that assumes essentials fit inside half your income — often unrealistic in the expensive capitals, and a lower rate you maintain beats a high one you abandon by month three.
Does the projection account for inflation?
No. Both the ten-year headline and the projections in the detailed builder are in nominal dollars, so the amount shown buys less than the same amount today. To see it in today's money, set the return in the advanced section to your expected return less inflation.
Where does super fit in?
Mostly outside the budget. Super Guarantee contributions go from your employer into your fund rather than your bank account, so they never appear in take-home pay. Extra voluntary contributions from your own pay are different — treat those as a savings line.
Sources: ATO — tax rates for Australian residents · ATO — Medicare levy · All data sources
See also: Take-home pay · Savings goal · Debt payoff planner · Mortgage vs super vs shares
General information only, not financial advice. Figures are estimates based on the inputs and assumptions above and don't account for your personal circumstances. Confirm anything important with the relevant authority or a licensed adviser.