{"id":597791,"date":"2026-09-12T05:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T05:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/597791\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T05:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T05:06:09","slug":"how-much-can-australian-pensioners-own-and-earn-under-new-rules-starting-next-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/597791\/","title":{"rendered":"How much can Australian pensioners own and earn under new rules starting next week?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The value of assets you can own,\u00a0and the amount you can earn, while still qualifying for the\u00a0age pension<\/a> will rise next Sunday. <\/p>\n

The changes reflect\u00a0indexation adjustments<\/a>, which are made twice per year, to keep up with\u00a0inflation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pension payments will also go up. <\/p>\n

Single pensioners will receive an extra $36.80 per fortnight under the inflation adjustments from 20 September. <\/p>\n

That will take the full pension payment up to $1,237.70 per fortnight. <\/p>\n

Couples will get an extra $27.80 per partner, per fortnight.<\/p>\n

That will raise the full pension payment to $933 per partner, per fortnight.<\/p>\n

\"Retiree<\/p>\n

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

Are you eligible for the age pension?<\/p>\n

Australians born on or after 1 January 1957 are eligible for the pension\u00a0at age 67<\/a>, whether retired<\/a>\u00a0or not. <\/p>\n

The pension is subject to an\u00a0assets test<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0income test<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you own or earn too much, you may only qualify for a part-pension, or no pension at all.<\/p>\n

Let’s look at the numbers. <\/p>\n

How much can you own under the assets test?<\/p>\n

Australians will be able to own more from 20 September and still qualify for at least a part-pension under changes to the assets test.<\/p>\n

A primary place of residence is excluded from the\u00a0assets test. <\/p>\n

Everything else, including superannuation<\/a>, ASX shares,\u00a0bonds<\/a>,\u00a0rental properties<\/a>, and cash, is assessable. <\/p>\n

If you rent your home, you are allowed to own more in assets while still qualifying for the age pension. <\/p>\n

Under this next round of indexation changes, only the upper thresholds for the assets test are changing. <\/p>\n

Single homeowners whose assets are worth less than $333,000 qualify for a full pension.<\/p>\n

Single homeowners whose assets are worth between $333,001 and $745,750 (up from $733,500) will be eligible for a part-payment.<\/p>\n

Non-homeowner singles whose assets are worth less than $600,000 qualify for the full payment.<\/p>\n

Non-homeowner singles who have between $600,001 and $1,012,750 (up from $1,000,500) in assets will qualify for a part-pension.<\/p>\n

Couple homeowners whose assets are worth less than $499,000 qualify for a full pension.<\/p>\n

Couple homeowners who have between $499,001 and $1,121,000 (up from $1,102,500) in assets will qualify for a part-payment.<\/p>\n

Non-homeowner couples whose assets are worth less than $766,000\u00a0qualify for the full payment.<\/p>\n

Non-homeowner couples who have between $766,001 and $1,388,000 (up from $1,369,500) in assets will qualify for a part-pension.<\/p>\n

How much can you earn while still getting the pension?<\/p>\n

Australians will also be able to earn a bit more from 20 September while still qualifying for at least a part-pension. <\/p>\n

Under this next round of indexation changes, only the upper thresholds for the income test are changing. <\/p>\n

Singles who earn less than $226 per fortnight qualify for the full payment.<\/p>\n

Singles who earn between $227 and $2,701.40 (up from $2,627.80) per fortnight will qualify for a part-payment.<\/p>\n

Couples who earn less than $396 per fortnight qualify for the full payment.<\/p>\n

Couples who earn between $397 and $4,128 (up from $4,016.80) per fortnight will qualify for a part-pension.<\/p>\n

As usual, a pensioner’s annual investment income (with the exception of rental income) is determined by deeming<\/a>\u00a0rates.<\/p>\n

The deeming rates will go up on 20 September. <\/p>\n

The lower deeming rate will be 1.75% for the first $66,800 worth of assets for singles and the first $110,600 for couples combined.<\/p>\n

Everything above these amounts will be deemed to have earned the new upper deeming rate of 3.75%.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The value of assets you can own,\u00a0and the amount you can earn, while still qualifying for the\u00a0age pension…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[138,246,111,139,69,244,245,478],"class_list":["post-597791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-trending"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}