Katy is already living on the Disability Support Pension and wants to know how Centrelink will review her assets once she passes pension age.
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Q. Katy
I am on a disability pension and will turn 66 in six months.
I have received a form from Centrelink to transfer to the Age Pension. I have the option to stay on disability, which I am doing. However, they have asked me for my superannuation details, regardless of which pension I choose.
Is this correct and can they do this if I am not applying for the Age Pension?
A. If you have decided to remain on the Disability Support Pension, you must tell Centrelink about your superannuation or they may stop your payments once you reach Age Pension age.
The amount of superannuation you have may also affect your rate of payment.
When you reach Age Pension age, Centrelink will count your superannuation both in the assets test (the value is the balance of your latest statement) and in the income test under deeming rules.
If you are single, you can own up to $280,000 in assets for homeowners and $504,500 for non-homeowners.
The deeming rate is the rate of income the government assumes a person’s financial assets have earned.
Basically it’s a tax on the income your financial assets earn.
It covers all financial assets, such as savings accounts and term deposits and in Katy’s case, her superannuation.
The deeming rate is set by the minister for social services and does not fluctuate regardless of how much the asset is earning, so it pays to make sure your asset is earning above the rate.
For singles, currently the first $56,400 of your financial assets has a deeming rate of 0.25 per cent and for anything over that a deeming rate of 2.25 per cent is applied.
A National Disability Insurance Scheme package is not included in the assets test.
