In Australia, as of late 2025/early 2026, you can hold significant assets and still receive a part-pension, with limits depending on your homeowner status. Single homeowners can have up to $714,500 - $880,500 in assets, while couples (combined) can have up to $1,267,500 if homeowners (higher for non-homeowners). Your primary residence is generally exempt from this test.
The amount of savings you have in the bank will also be taken into account. People of pension age can have up to £10,000 savings in the bank before it affects their pension credit. So if you have savings over £10,000, it will start to count towards your income calculation.
If you have up to around $686,000 in assets, you may still qualify for a part pension. For couples who own their home, a combined $470,000 or less in assets means a full pension, while up to $1.03 million still allows for a part pension.
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If your assets exceed the threshold, your Age Pension will gradually decrease. For example: A single homeowner with more than $321,500 in assets will start to see a decrease in their Age Pension payments. If their assets reach $714,500, their Age Pension payments will be reduced to $0.
An asset is anything you own that adds financial value, as opposed to a liability, which is money you owe. Examples of personal assets include: Your home. Other property, such as a rental house or commercial property.
Technically, yes – but there are significant factors to weigh before pursuing this route. While spending down your super may reduce your assessable assets and potentially increase the Age Pension you're eligible for, it's crucial to consider how this could impact your financial security and lifestyle in retirement.
How much money you can have in the bank before losing benefits depends entirely on the specific benefit program, with needs-based programs like Supplemental Security Income (SSI) having strict limits (around $2,000 for individuals) while earnings-based Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Retirement benefits typically have no asset limits. Other programs like SNAP (food stamps) or state Medicaid also have their own resource rules, so it's crucial to check your specific program's guidelines for its asset caps and exclusions.
Deposits over $10,000 are treated a little differently by banks because of a law called the Bank Secrecy Act. Under this law, when you make a cash deposit of $10,000 or more, the bank is required to file a Currency Transaction Report (CTR). The CTR needs to include: The name of the person who is making the deposit.
The amount you save has no effect on your State Pension. Whether you have savings accounts, personal pensions, property or other sources of income, your State Pension will remain the same.
Note:
Getting the Age Pension
What you do with your lump sum after you withdraw it from super may affect your eligibility for the Age Pension. To find out how a lump sum could affect your entitlements, talk to a Services Australia Financial Information Service (FIS) officer.
For people aged 60, Fidelity's retirement savings guidelines recommend an amount in savings worth six times your salary in order that you have enough to maintain your standard of living in retirement. So, someone earning £60,000 would need £360,000 in savings - which can mean money both inside and outside of pensions.
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From 20 September 2025, the full pension is available, under the assets test, for homeowner singles whose assessable assets are under $321,500 – for homeowner couples the number is $481,500. The numbers for non-homeowners are $579,500 and $739,500 respectively.
Phasing is the increase of the minimum pension contribution rates paid into automatic enrolment pension schemes. The total minimum contribution rate increased in two phases, the first was to 5% from 6 April 2018 and the second was to 8% from 6 April 2019.
The five major asset classes are Equities (Stocks), Bonds (Fixed Income), Cash & Cash Equivalents, Real Estate, and Commodities, with Alternative Investments often being the fifth or a broad category encompassing others like private equity, hedge funds, and sometimes even crypto, used for diversification to balance risk and growth. Each class behaves differently in markets, offering distinct risk/return profiles for building a balanced investment portfolio.
The 7 common current assets are Cash & Equivalents, Marketable Securities, Accounts Receivable, Inventory, Operating Supplies, Prepaid Expenses, and Other Liquid Assets, representing items easily converted to cash (within a year) for short-term operations, crucial for liquidity.