Career path

Tools in life-stage order

Each line says why the figure matters at that stage. Nothing here picks a product or a next step.

Books often suggested — a list, not a ranking, and not a recommendation to buy.

Intern

The first wage is an award figure. Tax and employer super sit on top of it.

Award pay
Why this matters now. The intern base is ordinary-hours pay in that state’s instrument. The states do not use the same number.
Income tax
Why this matters now. Resident brackets from 1 July 2026 are what a payslip uses.
Super
Why this matters now. Employer super is 12% of ordinary time earnings from 1 July 2026.
Budget
Why this matters now. Take-home is what is left after tax, before rent and a HELP repayment.
Registration and college fees
Why this matters now. A registration fee and a college fee are separate from the salary.

Training pay, packaging, and locum days that have no tax withheld.

Award pay
Why this matters now. The registrar base is ordinary hours. Overtime is not inside that base.
Salary packaging
Why this matters now. A public-hospital living cap and meal cap can still lift a HELP repayment.
Locum or salary
Why this matters now. A day rate usually has no tax withheld. The tax line is an illustration, not tax owing.
Tax with HELP
Why this matters now. HELP uses repayment income. Packaging can move that income.
Novated lease
Why this matters now. A car through payroll is a tax sketch. It is not fringe benefits tax, and not a quote.
Mortgage
Why this matters now. The repayment is principal and interest on the rate you type. Stamp duty is a separate state figure.

The pay jump meets a higher marginal rate, the concessional cap, and Division 293.

When the pay jumps
Why this matters now. A higher salary is taxed before it becomes take-home. The leftover uses the spending you type.
Salary packaging
Why this matters now. The public-hospital caps do not rise with the grade. The tax effect is larger at a higher rate.
Super and Division 293
Why this matters now. An extra 15% can apply to concessional contributions once income for that test is over $250,000.
Where the next dollar goes
Why this matters now. Employer super already uses part of the $32,500 concessional cap.
Super, repayment, or offset
Why this matters now. The same spare cash sits in three places. The page does not pick one.
Income-protection premium
Why this matters now. The premium is a cost you type. A higher premium is not a change in the cover amount.

Private bills, a practice structure, a house, and investments outside super.

Extra super in private practice
Why this matters now. Concessional and non-concessional caps are separate. Division 293 is a further 15% above $250,000.
Practice structures
Why this matters now. Sole trader, company, trust and service entity. Personal services income rules still apply to income from your own effort.
Compare a mix of shares
Why this matters now. The chart uses returns you type. A typed return is not a forecast.
Super fund returns
Why this matters now. APRA net returns are to 30 June 2026, after fees and tax. They are past performance.
What a house costs to hold
Why this matters now. Land tax uses the site value you type. Insurance and council rates are separate unless you type them.
School fees
Why this matters now. The figure is the 2026 Year 12 fee in the file. A discount that is not in the file is not in the number.

Payroll tax, a service fee, billing and structure. State rules differ. Nothing here is a calculation of payroll tax.

Practice owner, start here
Why this matters now. The pages below, in one list. Nothing on that page is stored.
Payroll tax
Why this matters now. State rules differ and have changed; check your state. Thomas and Naaz is the NSW Court of Appeal judgment of 14 March 2023.
Service fees
Why this matters now. Rooms and admin are not the medical service. The page does not set a percentage.
Break-even
Why this matters now. Cash from the service fee you type, set against overheads. Tax and payroll tax are not in it.
Billing
Why this matters now. Bulk-billing incentives from the 1 November 2025 MBS news, and a schedule fee. No gap dollar.
Practice structures
Why this matters now. Sole trader, company, trust and service entity. Not a recommendation.

When super can be used, the minimum drawdown, and what a will does not cover.

When you can use your super
Why this matters now. Preservation age comes from the ATO table for the birth date. Reaching it is not every condition of release.
Taking money from super
Why this matters now. The minimum pension rate under 65 is 4%. A transition-to-retirement pension has a 10% maximum.
Tax if super is over $3m
Why this matters now. From 1 July 2026 an extra tax applies to a share of earnings above $3 million, and again above $10 million.
Wills and super
Why this matters now. Super death benefits are on an ATO page of their own. This sketch does not calculate the tax.
What fees cost
Why this matters now. A percentage fee is taken every year. The dollar gap widens as the balance grows.

A rough figure — not advice. Terms

Advertisement — labelled, never inside the number.