Frank and his wife will receive an Age pension under an international social security agreement, but he doesn’t understand how the asset and income test is applied.
Q. Frank
Both my wife and I respectively spent 16 years and 20 years of our adult working life in Australia. We have now retired to Malta (where a Social Security Agreement with Australia exists).
My question is how the assets or income test will impact our pension when taking into consideration that we will not qualify for the full pension.?As the pension is worked out on a pro-rata basis, according to the number of years residence in Australia, does the same equation apply to these tests, whichever is applied.
A. When making a claim for the Age Pension, it will firstly be assessed under the income and asset test, which will determine what payment, if any, you receive. You are paid the resulting lower rate of payment once both test have been replied.
The work life residency rule will then be applied to this payment to calculate the pro rata amount you will receive.
