DIY Super For Dummies, 3rd Australian Edition

Chapter 20

Your Super and the Age Pension

In This Chapter

Combining your super and the Age Pension

Applying for the Age Pension

Passing the income test and assets test

Dissecting deeming and your super pension

F or many Australians the Age Pension is the pot of gold at the end of the retirement rainbow — the reward for paying taxes and being law-abiding members of the community. With around 80 per cent of retired, older Australians on a full or part Age Pension, the rainbow theory seems to ring true. However, according to the federal government, the Age Pension is designed to provide a modest retirement for those people who are unable to fully support themselves. Do you notice a glaring gap in expectations? Life on the Age Pension probably sits somewhere between the popular pot-of-gold view and the government’s ‘safety net’ policy position.

Can Australia afford to continue paying a full Age Pension of around $22,200 a year for a single person or about $33,500 for a couple (applicable to March 2015) to nearly half of the senior population, and a part Age Pension to another third ...