Age pension payments and partner age

Now here is some food for thought… financially…

If you are over age pension age and your spouse is under age pension age you may be able to increase your age pension payments through some careful planning.  Have you ever considered your options?

If you are under age, pension age funds held within your superannuation (accumulation) account are not counted towards the assets test for Age Pension purposes, while assets held within a superannuation account for those over pension age is.

Therefore, you could be better off placing your super in the super account of your spouse. However, this needs to be planned well before both of you are of the Age Pension age if you want to maximise Centrelink benefits as a couple.

For example: A 63 year old with a wife 18 months younger than him could withdraw the majority of his superannuation funds (assuming he is retired). His wife could make a contribution to her superannuation (to a maximum of $450,000) and this would maximise his Aged Pension entitlement during the 18 months period before his wife reaches age 65.

Just something worth thinking about…