How to include or exclude a Transition to retirement income stream (TRIS, formerly known as TTR)

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Modelling TRIS

Pathfinder can model an existing or new transition to retirement income stream, or TRIS (formerly known as Transition-to-Retirement (TTR) pensions). You can use the  (Robot) button to let Pathfinder calculate when to start the TRIS, how much to rollover and how much to draw as a pension (recommended), or you can choose to completely exclude the TRIS or set when to start it and how much to roll over. Pathfinder will always keep within the legislation. For example, it will not start a pension if the individual is not eligible to do so, and it will keep to minimum and maximum pension withdrawal requirements. Please see the steps in the table, below, for details on where to find the options.

Data entry for a TRIS

How to include a TRIS for an individual

Video

StepDetails
Make sure the rest of the case data has been entered

Although you may need to adjust your data inputs after reading these instructions, before you start these instructions, it is assumed that you have already entered the majority of the case data already, including:

  • Superannuation funds and/SMSFs (although more details about entering the ABP are below)
  • Annual living expenses
  • Personal details, assets, loans, income and expenses

For more details, see Entering Data in Pathfinder and Minimum data required for Pathfinder

(if required) Enter the existing TRIS balance, if the individual has already started one

If the individual has already started a TRIS:

  1. Go to the Current situation step (top menu), then the Super and Trusts step.

  2. Add the Superannuation fund or SMSF and its investments (for more see Superannuation (a.k.a Super) or SMSF (Self-Managed Super Fund))
  3. The TRIS account balance should be entered in the Pension phase balance field:
    1. On Superannuation funds, this field is on the investment(s) inside the fund
    2. In SMSFs, this is in the on the SMSF in the 'Member' section

NOTE: you do not need to enter how much the individual is currently drawing as a TRIS because Pathfinder will calculate this for you.

Allow TRIS to be included in the strategy

Allow TRIS to be included in the strategy:

  1. Go to the 

    Retirement planning sub-step (under the Cash flows & Goals step on the top menu)

  2. For the selected individual, for the Allow transition to retirement field, choose the 

Check retirement age has been entered
  1. At the 

    Retirement planning sub-step (under the Cash flows & Goals step on the top menu)

  2. For the individual, make sure the Retirement age field is filled in - Retirement age is used to calculate eligibility for a TRIS, so do not leave this field blank.

(Optional) Choose options for controlling when to start the TRIS from the superannuation fund. You can let Pathfinder calculate it for you, or you can st more specific options.

These options are only currently available for superannuation funds, not SMSFs.  Currently, Pathfinder will calculate pensions for SMSFs, and there are no additional options to set alternatives (these will be added in a later release).


To let Pathfinder calculate if/when to start the TRIS, based on the individual's eligibility and expenses, you just need to make sure the Robot option is chosen.

Depending on which other options you have chosen on your super funds, different fields will display:

  • If the Custom options or Options for withdrawals fields are set to , leave them as they are.  This will cover letting Pathfinder calculate the TRIS and you don't need to choose any further options.
  • If Options for withdrawals has not been set to 'Control withdrawals/pension', then the Pension payments (TRIS/ABP) field will be visible and you should set it to 


To set when to start the TRIS and specify how much to roll over

  1. Go to the Cash flows & Goals > Review super funds step and find the super fund
  2. For the Custom options field, choose 'More options'
  3. Then for the Options for withdrawals field, choose 'Control withdrawals/pension'
  4. Then for the Pension payments (TRIS/ABP) field choose 'Control pension payments'. This will show the fields for starting a pension and how much to rollover.

Also note:

  • If you would like to choose specific options for Pension payments, it is recommended you compare the results with a scenario where you have set 'Pension payments (TRIS/ABP)' to  (robot), so you can see how big the projected difference is. For more, see How to make another scenario for comparison
  • Pathfinder will automatically convert a TRIS to a tax-free ABP, once the individual is eligible to do so
  • Avoid choosing options which will force Pathfinder to exceed the transfer balance cap when rolling funds over to the Pension phase.  If the transfer balance cap is reached in your case, it will be reported in the 'Solve events' box, and then you can check the Detailed reports.  Pathfinder may make commutations or violate constraints, so carefully review the results, and adjust if necessary. If an individual reaches their transfer balance cap, it is strongly recommended you set 'Pension payments (TRIS/ABP)' to  (robot) since Pathfinder's optimiser works best when it's unrestricted.


How to exclude a TRIS for an individual

To exclude a TRIS for an individual:

  1. Go to the 

    Retirement planning sub-step (under the Cash flows & Goals step on the top menu)

  2. Under the individual, for the Allow transition to retirement field, change it to 'No'

NOTE: If the individual will not be eligible to start a TRIS in the projections, or will have sufficient income to meet expenses without starting a TRIS, then you can leave the Allow transition to retirement field as the default 'Robot' option (Pathfinder won't start a TRIS in these circumstances, anyway)

Reviewing a TRIS in the results

Video

In the results, you can see the TRIS in the following places:

  1. At the Strategy summary step, in the Retire section for the individual, there will be a bullet point if the individual starts a TRIS.
  2. At the Cash flows & Action items step:
    1. In the Cash flows report, the TRIS will be listed in the Revenue section with a row called 'TRIS payment'
    2. In the Action items, this is an action item for the TRIS in years where:
      1. The TRIS is started or refreshed
      2. A TRIS payment is made
      3. When a TRIS is converted to an ABP
  3. In the Detailed reports step, you can see TRIS in the following reports:
    1. Consolidated > Cash flows: There's a line for 'TRIS payment' (note that this will be the total TRIS payments if it is a couple)
    2. Consolidated > Cash flows (detailed): There's a line for 'TRIS payment' for each individual
    3. If the TRIS is drawn from a retail or industry super fund (note that the TRIS is drawn from the pension phase
      1. "Individual name" > "Super fund name" > "Super fund name" Pension > Pension payments
    4. If the TRIS is drawn from an SMSF: SMSF name > SMSF name > TRIS Balances

Common reasons a TRIS is not started, if you let Pathfinder calculate it

If you let Pathfinder calculate the TRIS, but no TRIS is started, some things to check are:

  • Did you allow a TRIS to be started at both the 'Retirement planning' and 'Review super funds' steps (see above for more details)
  • Is the individual actually eligible to start a TRIS? e.g. has not reached their preservation age.  You can check the individual's preservation age with the Age Lookup table.
  • Typically, a TRIS is only started if it is required to meet expenses, so it might not be worthwhile for the individual to do so because they can meet their income requirements through other sources. You can review their income at the Results > Cash flows & Action items step.
  • There are also some more reasons why funds may be kept in the accumulation phase Understanding why funds are kept in in the accumulation phase of super instead of the pension phase.

If you would like to force the TRIS to start, you can see the instructions above to see how to set when to start the TRIS and specify how much to roll over.

How to find out what return is being modelled for the TRIS

In the assumptions report, the ‘accumulation phase return’ for the super fund is the return that is also used for the TRIS pension.  This return is assumed to be after tax. In the results, you can check the returns in the detailed reports:

  1. Go to this detailed report: (individual) > (Super fund name)  > (Super fund name) Pension > Assets and loans > Investment – (investment name) > investment return
  2. In the ‘Investment return’ report, three will be two lines: ‘Interest rate’ and ‘Interest rate correction’.  In years where there is a TRIS pension, the sum of these two lines give you the return used. So for example, if the interest rate is 7.40% and the correction is -1.10%, the return is 7.40 – 1.1 = 6.3%, which will match the accumulation phase return.
  3. In the year the individual starts their TRIS or changes from a TRIS to an account-based pension, the correction will be lower because TRIS return only applies for part of the year, so the annual return has been adjusted to reflect this.

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