Case study: Rebuilding retirement income after losing a partner

Transcript

Greg and Janet are both aged 68, and they’ve recently retired together. They’re homeowners, and they have $700,000 in superannuation combined from which they’re drawing account-based pensions. On top of that, they have $100,000 cash in the bank, and they’re declaring $25,000 worth of other assets to Centrelink made up of their home contents and their car. With all of those assets, they’re entitled to $19,500 per year, approximately in combined age pension. To top that up, they’re drawing $55,500 from their superannuation pensions. That’s giving them a comfortable total income of $75,000 for the year, and they’re looking forward to enjoying their retirement together in comfort.

Unfortunately, Finally, Greg passes away unexpectedly, leaving Janet to replan her retirement alone. The first thing on Janet’s mind is her age pension. Here you can see the asset limits for a part-age pension, and I’ve on them from our website at SuperGuide. They’re current from September 2025 to March 2026, and of course, we update them when they change. As you can see, the asset limits vary depending whether you’re a single person, part of a couple, and whether you own your own home or not.