![\"Elderly](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Senior-couple-laptop-smiling-16.9-1200x675.jpg\")
<\/p>\nImportant news for Australian seniors: the Age Pension rises on 20 September. <\/p>\n
Payments are indexed twice a year, in March and September, using whichever measure of inflation or wages growth is highest.<\/p>\n
Given the high inflation figures, this round will deliver the biggest lift in several years. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Image source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
What the new Age Pension rate is worth<\/p>\n
A single pensioner will receive $1,237.70 per fortnight from 20 September.<\/p>\n
That is an increase of $36.80 a fortnight, which adds up to roughly $957 across a full year.
The new maximum annual payment for a single pensioner is about $32,180. <\/p>\n
Each member of a couple will earn up to $933.00 per fortnight.<\/p>\n
Combined, a couple will receive $1,866.00 a fortnight, an increase of $55.60 and about $48,516 across the year.<\/p>\n
These are maximum rates<\/a> and include the pension supplement and energy supplement.<\/p>\n So what is the catch?<\/p>\n Deeming rates also increase by half a percentage point on 20 September.<\/p>\n The lower rate moves from 1.25% to 1.75%, and the upper rate from 3.25% to 3.75%.<\/p>\n The thresholds stay put at $66,800 for a single person and $110,600 for a couple.<\/p>\n Deeming is the government’s assumption about what your financial investments earn, regardless of what they actually earn.<\/p>\n Full pensioners are unaffected by the change, but anyone holding substantial savings outside superannuation may find the pay rise considerably smaller than they were expecting as a result of these changes.<\/p>\n Where the assets test now stands<\/p>\n The assets test thresholds moved as well.<\/p>\n A single homeowner loses the pension at $745,750 in assessable assets.<\/p>\n For a homeowning couple, the cut-off is $1,121,000 combined.<\/p>\n The payment reduces by $3 a fortnight for every $1,000 of assets above the full pension threshold, which is $333,000 for a single homeowner.<\/p>\n How far the Age Pension actually goes<\/p>\n This is where the arithmetic gets interesting.<\/p>\n The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia puts a comfortable retirement at $55,923 a year for a single person and $78,566 for a couple.<\/p>\n The full single Age Pension of roughly $32,180 leaves a gap of about $23,700.<\/p>\n As such, a couple on the maximum rate are around $30,000 short of the same benchmark.<\/p>\n Where ASX dividend shares fit in<\/p>\n Closing that gap over a retirement lasting twenty or thirty years usually means owning assets that produce a rising income.<\/p>\n The Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF (ASX: VHY<\/a>), for example, is one of the more popular ways Australians do it.<\/p>\n The fund holds around $7 billion, charges 0.25% a year, and screens the local market for higher-yielding companies. <\/p>\n