Chris’s wife is leaving the workforce shortly but has not yet reached pension age. Will her super be counted as an asset?
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Q. Chris
My 59-year-old wife is working part time. We both receive a part age pension due to the fact that I have a Veterans Affairs gold TPI card. She is considering leaving the workforce shortly. I understand that she does not have to include her super balance in the asset test until she reaches the pension age, which I assume is 67.
Does this rule still apply even though she is receiving a part pension?
A. If your wife is under the Age Pension age and is not receiving an income from her superannuation, then generally it shouldn’t be assessed as an asset.
According to the Centrelink website: “If you are under age pension age, your superannuation investments are usually disregarded for income and assets test purposes. When you or your partner reach age pension age, whether you receive Age Pension or another payment, superannuation investments are:
- included as assets under the assets test, and
- regarded as financial investments. They are added to the value of other financial investments and all financial investments are deemed to calculate income.
If you have a Centrelink question, please send it to newsletters@yourlifechoices.com.au and we’ll do our best to answer it for you.
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