How much is needed in superannuation to target a $40,000 annual passive income?

I'm sure most readers would love to have an annual passive income return of $40,000 in their superannuation.

For people already getting $40,000 per year in passive income, I reckon receiving an additional $40,000 per year would also be very welcome.

So, what would it take to unlock that river of dividends via superannuation? That's what I'll look at in this article.

Superannuation could be the best place to invest for passive income these days following taxation changes to trusts, residential property and capital gains tax.

Owning dividend-paying investments in superannuation means investors won't lose as much of the return to tax as they would if the investment was in their own name. During the accumulation phase, superannuation has a lower tax rate for income than full-time working individuals, while in retirement the tax rate for income could be 0% for many retirees, depending on the size of their superannuation balance.

With that in mind, I think superannuation is an excellent place to unlock $40,000 per year.

Generating $40,000 of annual passive income

It'll take a sizeable sum to unlock tens of thousands of dollars of dividends each year.

There's no single dollar target required because it really depends on what sorts of investments Aussies choose and the dividend yield that comes with that.

For example, if an investor had all of their money in iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV), you'd have a dividend yield of around 1%. With a dividend yield of 1%, someone would need a $4 million portfolio to make $40,000 per year in passive income.

The IVV ETF is not the choice I'd make for passive income, though it does have other benefits.

Instead, I'd focus on building a portfolio with a dividend yield of at least 4%, if not more.

With a 4% dividend yield, an investor could generate the desired passive income from a $1 million portfolio.

If an Australian's portfolio had a 5% dividend yield, they would only need $800,000 for that income.

With a 6.5% dividend yield, an Australian's portfolio goal would be close to $615,000.

As you can see, the higher the dividend yield, the smaller the portfolio needs to be to achieve the income target.

But, higher dividend yields may be riskier and/or deliver less capital growth for investors.

So, the choices investors make could greatly influence how reliable that passive income is. Not every investment with a high dividend yield may sustain its dividends over the longer term.

ASX dividend shares I'd consider for superannuation

If Australians are willing to accept a lower dividend yield, then it's hard to look past Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL). That's an investment conglomerate that owns a diversified portfolio of defensive assets, enabling it to pay a reliable and growing dividend. Its payout has grown every year since 1998, though the grossed-up dividend yield is only 3.3%, including franking credits, at the time of writing.

But, there are plenty of businesses with higher dividend yields that I think are compelling.

For example, Centuria Industrial REIT (ASX: CIP) and Dexus Industria REIT (ASX: DXI) are both real estate investment trusts (REITs) with dividend yields of between 5% and 7%. They provide exposure to industrial property, which is benefiting from compelling rental tailwinds.

I also like portfolio investments that can provide diversification and good dividend yields for superannuation investors.

Some of my favourite portfolio-based investments that come to mind include MFF Capital Investments Ltd (ASX: MFF), WCM Quality Global Growth Fund (ASX: WCMQ), WCM Global Growth Ltd (ASX: WQG), Future Generation Australia Ltd (ASX: FGX), Future Generation Global Ltd (ASX: FGG) and L1 Long Short Fund Ltd (ASX: LSF). All of these names have a track record of increasing payouts to shareholders, with dividend yields between 4% and 7%.

There are a number of other attractive ASX shares to consider, in my view, for passive income.