Subscribe Sign in

Gifting money to your kids? How it could accidentally dent your Age Pension

1 min read Rewritten in plain language

Retirement

Show what we removed
  • The Age Pension is a fortnightly payment for Australians aged 67 or older.
  • You're also subject to an asset and an income test, the results of which determine how much Age Pension you can get, if any.
  • The income test assesses all income pooled from all sources, including wages, superannuation, investment income, commission payments, and any other types of income including those from overseas.
  • As of the 20th of September, to receive the full Age Pension, single homeowners can now own assets up to a value of $333,000, and non-homeowners can own assets up to $600,000 in retirement.
  • Centrelink has strict rules to deter Australians from giving away money to influence their Age Pension eligibility.

5 sentences from our version of the report, chosen to cover it. Nothing here is written; every line is in the article below. How

Couples can earn up to $396 per fortnight. As of the 20th of September, to receive the full Age Pension, single homeowners can now own assets up to a value of $333,000, and non-homeowners can own assets up to $600,000 in retirement.

Headline check

The one thing this headline claims is in the report.

Figures, names and quoted words in the headline, looked for in the report itself — not in the summary above. One claim in this headline could be checked, so this is a narrow pass and not a thorough one. How this is checked

1912 Post Office Masterton (3537174276)
1912 Post Office Masterton (3537174276) Zechariah Judy from Idaho Falls, ID, USA / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

The Age Pension is a fortnightly payment for Australians aged 67 or older.

Not only do you need to meet age requirements, you also need to be an Australian resident who has lived here for at least 10 years, with at least five of those years in a single continuous period.

You're also subject to an asset and an income test, the results of which determine how much Age Pension you can get, if any. Centrelink assesses you under both tests then applies whichever gives the lowest rate of payment for your individual circumstances.

The income test assesses all income pooled from all sources, including wages, superannuation, investment income, commission payments, and any other types of income including those from overseas.

Meanwhile the asset test assesses everything you own, whether it's in full, in part, or you have an interest in it.

To receive the full Age Pension, single Australians can earn up to $226 per fortnight. Couples can earn up to $396 per fortnight.

As of the 20th of September, to receive the full Age Pension, single homeowners can now own assets up to a value of $333,000, and non-homeowners can own assets up to $600,000 in retirement.

A couple combined can now own up to $499,000 in total if they own a property, or $766,000 if they don't.

Centrelink has strict rules to deter Australians from giving away money to influence their Age Pension eligibility.

Shortened to 1 minute of reading, this version reads 10.1 on the Niral Score.

You are reading our version, not theirs. This is The Motley Fool Australia's report shortened to its most important sentences, in plainer words, with verdicts and loaded words taken out. Plain description stays, and so do adjectives that carry a fact, such as "former" or "federal". The reporting, the facts and the quotations are theirs — quotations are never edited — and the indicators beside it measure this version. Hover or tap Adjectives to see every one left in the text.

How this outlet filed it, and how we rewrote it

No other newsroom we read has filed on this event, so there is nothing to compare it with yet.

Outlet Niral ScoreAdjectivesHappiness
The Motley Fool Australiaas they published this story 13.2 6 50.9
Mundane Readneutralized from The Motley Fool Australia 13.2 6 50.9

Sign in to react.

Comments

Nothing here yet.

Sign in to comment.

Questions

Readers can ask a question about this story here. Questions and answers are for subscribers. Sign in to read them.

Comments are read before they appear where anything in them needs a person to look. Nothing posted here is ever deleted; a comment taken down keeps its text and the reason, so the decision can be looked at again. How this works