pension-changes.

Good things are going to happen on July 1 for the millions of Australians who are on an Age Pension – and hundreds of thousands of others who might now qualify.

You may be surprised by this as generally speaking major Age Pension changes only happen twice a year – on March 20 and September 20.

That’s true, but July 1 is the date for changes for many qualifying limits attached to the Age Pension income and assets tests. And this year there is also an increase in the threshold for deeming rates. So millions of Australians are likely to be better off  after July 1.

Read on for the detail of these changes.

Income thresholds (per fortnight)

Previous Amount From 1 July 2022 Increase
Income free area for maximum payment 
Single $180 $190 $10 pf
Couple $320 $336 $16 pf
Disqualifying income limit
Single $2,155.20 $2,165.20 $10 pf
Couple $3,297.60 $3,313.60 $16 pf

Asset thresholds

Asset free area for maximum payment  Previous Amount From 1 July 2022 Increase
Single – Homeowners $270,500 $280,000 $9,500
Couple – Homeowners $405,000 $419,000 $14,000
Single – Non-Homeowners $487,000 $504,500 $17,500
Couple – Non-Homeowners $621,500 $643,500 $22,000
Disqualifying asset limits
Single – Homeowners $599,750 $609,250 $9,500
Couple – Homeowners $901,500 $915,500 $14,000
Single – Non-Homeowners $816,250 $833,750 $17,500
Couple – Non-Homeowners $1,118,000 $1,140,000 $22,000

Deeming thresholds

Previous Amount From 1 July 2022 Increase
Single $53,600 $56,400 $2,800
Couple $89,000 $93,600 $4,600

Are you due for more?

It may all seem a bit confusing, so here’s how to recheck your entitlements. The Retirement Essentials Age Pension Entitlements Calculator will be updated with all of the above changes on June 21st. So you can check your entitlements early and get started on your application before the changes come into effect on July 1. don’t worry, we will send a reminder email next week.

If you are already receiving an Age Pension:

Full Age Pensioners won’t see any change however part pensioners will see their payments increasing slightly.  You don’t need to do anything as Centrelink will automatically adjust payments based on the new thresholds from 1 July.  While payment changes will happen automatically Centrelink won’t update all your asset values so it is good practice to check you are not overvaluing your assets.  Revaluing your assets plus the higher thresholds could mean even more in your fortnightly payments  Visit the Age Pension Entitlements Calculator, recheck the information you have previously input for income and assets (and any other relevant detail) and see if your situation has changed.

And one last thing.

Hidden away in the fine print at the end of the six page document which outlines the new July 1 Centrelink changes is another piece of good news.

This is the increase to the Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) indexation factor. It’s tiny – from 1.019 to 1.038. But it means that a slightly higher benchmark will be used when next the Age Pension is indexed in early September, for a September 20 update. If you’re interested in the various indexes and benchmarks used to calculate possible Age Pension increases, you can read more here.

 

Check Your Entitlements