{"id":156128,"date":"2025-09-20T07:40:04","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T07:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/156128\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T07:40:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T07:40:04","slug":"from-today-you-can-earn-and-own-more-and-still-qualify-for-a-pension-in-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/156128\/","title":{"rendered":"From today, you can earn and own more and still qualify for a pension in retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/p>\n

Image source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

The limits on the value of assets you can own and the amount you can earn in retirement<\/a>, while still qualifying for the pension, rise today. <\/p>\n

This is due to biannual indexation<\/a>, which ensures the asset and income tests and the pension payment itself keep pace with inflation.<\/p>\n

Australians become eligible for the age pension when they hit ‘retirement age<\/a>‘, which is 67 years for those born on or after 1 January 1957.<\/p>\n

The pension is subject to an asset test<\/a> and an income test<\/a>, which use biannually adjusted thresholds to determine whether you qualify. <\/p>\n

If you own assets or earn wages below the lower thresholds, you will qualify for a full pension. <\/p>\n

If you own assets or earn money above the lower thresholds but beneath the upper thresholds, you will qualify for a part pension.<\/p>\n

In this round of indexation changes, it’s the upper threshold limits only that are changing. The lower thresholds are staying the same.<\/p>\n

Let’s go over the changes, starting with the assets test. <\/p>\n

How much can you own in retirement and still get a full or part pension? <\/p>\n

Before we begin, just a quick reminder that your primary residence is excluded from the assets test<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Let’s recap the lower thresholds, which are not changing today. <\/p>\n

Single homeowners can own $321,500 in assets outside their main residence, and single non-homeowners can own $579,500 in assets outside their home, and still qualify for the full pension. <\/p>\n

Couple homeowners can have $481,500 in assets and non-homeowners can have $739,500 in assets and still get the full pension.<\/p>\n

Now to the upper thresholds, which are rising today. <\/p>\n

Single homeowners will qualify for a part pension if their assets are worth less than the new upper threshold of $714,500. <\/p>\n

Non-homeowner singles can get a part pension if their retirement assets are worth less than their new limit of $972,500.<\/p>\n

Couple homeowners can now get a part pension if their assets are valued up to $1,074,000.<\/p>\n

Non-homeowner couples can own up to $1,332,000 in assets and still qualify for support from today.<\/p>\n

But wait, there’s more. <\/p>\n

You need to satisfy the income test to qualify for the pension, too. <\/p>\n

How much can you earn without losing your pension? <\/p>\n

Let’s follow the same course with the income test and its thresholds.<\/p>\n

Here are the lower thresholds, which are not changing today. <\/p>\n

Single Australians in retirement can earn $218 per fortnight and couples $380 combined per fortnight and qualify for the full pension.<\/p>\n

From today, the upper thresholds of the income test are going up. <\/p>\n

Singles will now be able to earn up to $2,575.40 per fortnight, and couples up to $3,934 per fortnight, and still qualify for a part pension. <\/p>\n

How much is the pension? <\/p>\n

So glad you asked \u2014 because pension payments are also rising today. <\/p>\n

To find out exactly how much more pension you will receive in retirement from today, view our article here<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Image source: Getty Images The limits on the value of assets you can own and the amount you…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[64,63,99,6166,186,184,185],"class_list":{"0":"post-156128","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-editors-choice","12":"tag-finance","13":"tag-personal-finance","14":"tag-personalfinance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}