John is considering a venture into the share market but is unsure how his part Age Pension will be affected by making the switch from savings to shares.
Q. John
With almost $80,000 dollars in my bank account, I decided to put about $30,000 into shares, which would pay dividends fully franked, but am unsure as to how this will affect my part Age Pension.
A. Both shares and money held in a savings account are treated the same by Centrelink and are assessed under the income and assets test.
Under the assets test, it’s the value of the financial asset that is assessed and under the income test, it’s the deemed income that is counted.
Based on the above, it is unlikely that your part Age Pension will be affected by making such a change; however, this information is general only and you should confirm with a Centrelink Financial Services officer how your personal circumstances might be affected.
Related articles:
Deeming rates for Age Pension
Income and asset tests