Age Pension Changes

Australians are becoming healthier and living longer than ever before, and the Australian population is ageing.  Each year an increasing number of people retire and many rely either in full or partly on the Age Pension to help fund their retirement.  The Australian Government has made some changes to the Assets Test under the Age Pension which came into effect from 1st of January 2017. The aim of the changes is to make the system more sustainable for the future.

Essentially if you’re assessed under the Assets test, that is you receive a lower Age Pension under the Assets test than under the Incomes test, then you may be affected by these changes. These changes are summarised below:

The tapering rates for the Age Pension are also changing, under the current rules, your payment is reduced by $1.50 per fortnight for every $1,000 of assets over the lower asset test threshold. Under the new rules, the reduction is now $3 per fortnight for every $1,000 in assets over the lower threshold.

With these changes, those with lower assets will benefit from a higher lower assets test threshold, but those with higher assets may receive a reduced amount of Age Pension or none at all.

If you are to lose your Age Pension from the 1st of January 2017 you will be automatically eligible for a Low Income Health Care Card, and most likely eligible for a Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card.

Given the changes to the Age Pension Assets test, now may be a good time to reset your current strategies and look at ways that may help maximise your Age Pension entitlements. There are a few little things you can do to help maximise your Age Pension:
–  Re-value assets – Especially in the case of Home Contents and Vehicles, for Centrelink purposes you only need to record the “Fire Sale” value not the insured value.

–  Gifting of assets – You can gift assets up to an allowable limit of $10,000 and $30,000 over a rolling 5 year period.

–  Superannuation – Money held in the superannuation (accumulation phase) for someone under age 65 is exempt from the Age Pension Assets test. This can be particularly helpful when an individual in a couple is below Age Pension age.

Although the above tips may help to maximise your Age Pension there are traps to each one which need to be considered. JBS are pre-retirement and retirement specialists and may be able to help you maximise your Age Pension.  If you or a friend need help with the changes to the Age Pension feel free to give JBS a call.