The Welfie Projection calculator ('the calculator') is provided by Picture Wealth (ABN 22 626 204 395 | AFSL 530789).
The Welfie insurance needs analysis (the “calculator”) can help you estimate the amount of Life, Total and Permanent Disability (TPD), Trauma (critical illness) and Income Protection cover that may be appropriate for your circumstances and compare those estimates with any cover you tell us you already hold.
The estimates produced are for illustrative and educational purposes only. The calculator performs its calculations by reference to a fixed methodology using a limited number of inputs and default assumptions, which are explained below. It cannot take into account all of your personal circumstances, and its inputs are not a complete list of the factors relevant to deciding on an amount or type of insurance cover.
Any information or advice provided by the calculator is general and factual in nature only. It has been prepared without taking into account your individual objectives, financial situation or needs. The estimated amounts, comparisons and outcome labels are not a recommendation that any amount or type of insurance is suitable or sufficient for you, and you should not make a decision about a financial product solely in reliance on the results produced by this calculator.
Before making any decision about insurance cover, you should consider whether the information is appropriate for you having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs, read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Target Market Determination (TMD) for any product you are considering, and consider obtaining personal advice from a licensed financial adviser. You can book a session with a Picture Wealth adviser from within the app; your adviser can prepare an insurance needs analysis tailored to your full circumstances.
If you hold or take out insurance cover, you should review it regularly and whenever your circumstances change, for example if your income changes, your family grows, you take on a new mortgage, or you marry or separate, to ensure your cover remains adequate and appropriate.
The estimates are based on the details you provide or confirm in the app, including: your date of birth and intended retirement age; your gross annual salary (excluding super); your risk profile; your superannuation balance and fund start date; your savings, investments and other assets; your debts (mortgage, investment and other); details of your children (including school type, childcare needs and the years you would like your income to support them); and cover-specific choices such as incomereplacement amounts and durations, carer-cost level, and home-modification and medical-expense allowances.
Some fields are pre-filled from information held in your Welfie profile, which may include information you or your adviser have previously provided. You should check every pre-filled value and update anything that is out of date or incomplete before relying on an estimate. The estimates are only as reliable as the information they are based on.
Any existing cover you add for comparison is entered by you and is not verified. The calculator does not obtain or check your cover with any insurer or superannuation fund. You should check your policy documents (including any default cover held within superannuation) to confirm the types and amounts of cover you hold. 2.4 Your retirement age and risk profile Where you do not enter a retirement age, the calculator uses a default age of 67 as a general starting assumption; you should enter the age you actually intend to retire, as this affects the estimates. Your risk profile is used only to set the rate of return used to convert future income needs into a present-day lump sum (see section 3); it does not reflect a recommendation about how you should invest. If you are unsure which risk profile applies to you, a Picture Wealth adviser can help you consider it.
Where you do not enter a retirement age, the calculator uses a default age of 67 as a general starting assumption; you should enter the age you actually intend to retire, as this affects the estimates. Your risk profile is used only to set the rate of return used to convert future income needs into a present-day lump sum (see section 3); it does not reflect a recommendation about how you should invest. If you are unsure which risk profile applies to you, a Picture Wealth adviser can help you consider it.
If you leave details incomplete, the calculator may be unable to produce an estimate for a cover type, or may produce a less reliable estimate. If you do not select a risk profile, a Balanced risk profile is applied by default (see section 4).
For each of Life, TPD and Trauma, the calculator builds an estimated lump-sum cover amount as:
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Estimated cover = immediate lump-sum needs + present value of future income and expense needs − assets available to offset those needs |
Income Protection is different: it produces an estimated monthly benefit rather than a lump sum, because that is how Income Protection policies are quoted.
Future income and expense needs (for example, replacing part of your income for a number of years, or funding education costs that begin in the future) are converted into a single lump-sum amount in today’s dollars using a present-value calculation:
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Capital required = PV(rate, years, annual amount) ÷ (1 + rate) ^ years deferred |
The discount rate used is a “real” (after-inflation) rate of return linked to your selected risk profile (see section 4). Using a real rate is how the calculation allows for inflation over the period the income needs to be replaced. “Years deferred” allows for needs that begin in the future, such as education costs.
Debts to be cleared (mortgage, investment and other debt) plus an allowance for funeral costs, plus the present value of income replacement, childcare and education needs, minus assets you nominate as available to offset those needs (superannuation and other assets).
Calculated in the same way as Life, plus disability-specific lump sums (home modifications and medical expenses), plus the present value of ongoing carer costs, plus a tax contingency. The tax contingency is an allowance for tax that may be payable on the taxable component of a TPD benefit paid through superannuation, estimated from your super fund start date and years to retirement:
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super period (years) = (retirement date − super fund start date) ÷ 365.25 tax-free amount = benefit × whole years to retirement ÷ super period taxable amount = benefit − tax-free amount tax contingency = taxable amount × 22% |
A medical-expense lump sum plus approximately one year of income replacement (present-value discounted), minus assets you indicate your household could cash in.
An estimated monthly benefit of 70% of your gross salary divided by 12, plus an allowance for your monthly superannuation contributions (the 70% ratio is not applied to the super component). Any waiting period and benefit period shown in the app (for example “30 days” or “to age 65”) are displayed as policy information only and do not affect the calculated amount.
The calculator uses the default assumptions below. Every default is a generalised assumption, a population-level benchmark or modelling estimate, not a fact about you or your circumstances. Your actual costs and returns may differ significantly. Where an assumption cannot be adjusted in the app, a Picture Wealth adviser can prepare an analysis using figures tailored to you.
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Assumption |
Default value |
Basis / notes |
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Real rate of return (by risk profile) |
Defensive 0.3% pa Conservative 1.0% pa Balanced 2.1% pa Growth 3.1% pa High Growth 4.2% pa |
“Real” means net of inflation. Derived from long-term total-return data (Morningstar) less an inflation (CPI) assumption of 2.5% pa. Used to convert future income needs into a present-day amount. |
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Default risk profile |
Balanced (2.1% pa) |
Applied if you do not select a risk profile. |
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Inflation (CPI) |
2.5% pa |
Reflected through the use of real (after-inflation) rates of return. |
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Funeral costs (Life) |
$15,000 |
Benchmark allowance for funeral and associated costs. |
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Home modifications (TPD) |
$20,000 |
Benchmark allowance for home modifications, aligned to NDIS-referenced costs. |
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Medical expenses (TPD) |
$100,000 |
Benchmark allowance referenced to industry cost-of-care research (Zurich Cost of Care). |
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Carer costs (TPD) |
Complex needs: $56,700 pa (default) High-level needs: $37,440 pa |
Complex needs reflects 24/7 specialist care; high-level needs reflects daily-living assistance. |
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Childcare costs |
$31,200 pa per child |
Default annual childcare cost where childcare is required. |
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Education costs (per child, per year) |
Government $6,500 Catholic $13,400 Independent $22,200 |
By school type, applied for the years you nominate. |
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Medical expenses (Trauma) |
$65,000 |
Default lump sum for Trauma; distinct from the TPD medical-expenses allowance. |
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Income replacement ratio (IP) |
70% of gross salary |
Below the industry/APRA-referenced maximum of 75%. Insurers may apply lower ratios or caps. |
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Superannuation contribution rate |
12% of salary |
Used to estimate continued super contributions within the Income Protection benefit. |
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TPD tax contingency rate |
22% |
Applied to the estimated taxable component of a TPD benefit paid through superannuation (section 3.4). |
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Super fund start date fallback |
Your 18th birthday |
Used in the TPD tax contingency if your fund start date is not available. |
These assumptions and their sources are reviewed periodically. Changing your details, or changes to these assumptions, will change the estimates.
| Label | What it means |
| On track | The cover you entered is close to its estimated amount |
| Above Estimate $xxxx | The cover you entered is $X above its estimated |
| Possible shortfall $xxxx |
The cover you entered is $X below its estimated amount. Because this is only an estimate, it does not mean you are underinsured. |
| Existing cover not added |
You have not entered any existing cover of this type; only the estimated amount is shown. |
Your overall result is shown as an estimated outcome that compares the cover you have entered against the estimated amounts. It is not a statement that your insurance is, or is not, adequate for your personal circumstances, and it is not a recommendation to buy, increase, reduce or cancel any cover. Income Protection amounts are monthly; Life, TPD and Trauma amounts are lump sums.
The status shown, “Comprehensive”, “Partial”, “Limited”, “Protected”, “Estimated” or “Not started”, is indicative only and may not reflect your actual insurance position. It is produced by comparing the existing cover amounts you have entered with estimated amounts generated using the information you provided, together with standard assumptions and benchmark costs. It is not an assessment of your objectives, financial situation or needs.
How the status is calculated
The status is determined by comparing the existing cover amounts you have entered with the calculator’s estimated amounts:
Not started means that insufficient information has been provided to generate an estimate.
The status reflects only the number of differences identified and whether existing cover has been entered. It does not consider the size or significance of any difference. For example, one large difference and one small difference are treated in the same way when determining the status.
A “Comprehensive” status may not mean that your insurance is comprehensive, adequate or suitable for you. A “Protected” status may not mean that you are adequately protected, as the comparison is incomplete. A “Partial” or “Limited” status may not mean that you are underinsured or need to obtain additional cover.
The comparison does not consider policy terms, definitions, exclusions, waiting periods, benefit periods, eligibility, premiums, affordability, policy ownership or structure, or the taxation of any benefit. It does not include cover you hold but have not entered, and Picture Wealth does not verify the cover amounts or providers you enter.
Do not make a decision to obtain, increase, reduce, replace or cancel insurance based on this status. Before acting, consider whether the information is appropriate for you having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs, and speak with your Picture Wealth adviser.
Availability of cover: the calculator does not consider whether the estimated amounts would actually be available to you as insurance cover. Availability may be limited by product design, your age, occupation, health, income and the affordability of premiums.
Existing cover is not verified: comparisons rely on the cover amounts you enter, which are not checked with any insurer or fund.
Fixed methodology: outputs are computed by reference to a fixed methodology based on a limited number of factors. It does not consider all of your financial resources (for example a partner’s income, business interests or potential social security entitlements) and does not guarantee any outcome.
Point-in-time estimate: the estimates reflect your details and the assumptions at the time of calculation. Your circumstances, legislation and regulatory settings will change over time in ways that cannot be predicted, and the estimates may change as assumptions are updated.
Not a substitute for advice: the calculator is not a substitute for personal advice from a licensed financial adviser.
Except for the simplified TPD tax contingency described in section 3.4, the calculator does not take into account your tax circumstances, including any income tax or Medicare levy that may apply to insurance benefits held inside or outside superannuation. Depending on your circumstances, some or all of a benefit may be subject to tax. The calculator does not consider the tax implications of selling assets, and no allowance is made for social security benefits to which you may be or may become entitled. You should seek independent tax advice about the taxation of insurance benefits relevant to your circumstances.
The calculator is provided within the Welfie app. Information you enter is stored in your Welfie profile and may be used to update the records we hold about you and be visible to your Picture Wealth adviser. Any personal information collected through the calculator will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy, available at www.picturewealth.com/privacy-policy.
To the extent permitted by law, Picture Wealth Advisory Pty Ltd ABN 22 626 204 395 AFSL 530789 does not accept any liability for any loss or damage, direct or indirect, arising from any person relying on any information provided by, resulting from, or omitted from this calculator, and does not make any representation or warranty as to the accuracy, currency or completeness of the information provided by this calculator. Nothing in this statement excludes or limits any rights you may have under law that cannot be excluded.