Household worked through · rates of 20 September 2026
A pensioner couple who own their home
Bill, 70, and Anne, 68, own their home outright. They have $380,000 in super pensions and bank accounts, and $45,000 of car, caravan and contents.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
A homeowner couple, both over Age Pension age, with $380,000 of financial assets and $45,000 of other assets, receives about $1,833 a fortnight together, $916.25 each, from the rates of September 2026, against $933 each at the full rate. The income test sets the rate. Their deemed income is $12,038 a year, about $463 a fortnight, of which the first $110,600 of savings is deemed at 1.75% and the rest at 3.75%. That is above the couple's income free area of $396 a fortnight, so each loses 25 cents per dollar of the excess. Their total assets, $425,000, are under the homeowner couple free area of $499,000, so the assets test alone would pay the full rate. Their home, whatever its value, is not counted.
More details: ages, assets, child care fees
What this household gets, per fortnight
$1,833
$47,645 a year
- Age Pension (you)$916
Reduced by the income test
- Age Pension (your partner)$916
Reduced by the income test
An income support payment is paid, so Family Tax Benefit is worked out without the family income test. How this is worked out.
The income test bites through deeming
Bill and Anne have no wages and no rental income, yet the income test reduces their pension. The reason is deeming: Centrelink assumes their $380,000 earns 1.75% on the first $110,600 and 3.75% on the rest, whatever it actually earns (Social Security Guide 4.4.1.10). The deemed $463 a fortnight is $67 above the couple free area, and half of that, shared between them, comes off the combined pension. Under the assets test alone, they would receive the full rate.
Spending on the home
If the couple spent $80,000 renovating their home, that money would move from deemed savings into the exempt home. Financial assets would fall to $300,000, deemed income would fall with them, and their pension would rise to about $933 each a fortnight. Whether that is a good use of the money is their decision, but the pension effect is real and immediate.
The share market and the pension
Because deeming replaces actual returns, a strong year for their super pension does not cut Bill and Anne's pension, and a weak one does not raise it. What matters is the value of their financial assets, which Centrelink updates for listed investments twice a year. A large fall in value can lower deemed income at the next update, and an increase can raise it.
A few hours of work
If Anne earned $400 a fortnight from a casual job, the couple's income would rise and each pension would fall to about $816.25, before the Work Bonus. The Work Bonus excludes part of a pensioner's employment income from the income test, so the real reduction would be smaller; the calculator does not apply it, because its amounts are not in the parameters this site has verified.