You can have significant assets, including your bank balance, before losing your Age Pension, but the exact limit depends on your homeowner status and relationship, with homeowner singles maxing out around $321,500 in assets (or much more for a part pension), while non-homeowner couples have higher limits, like $739,500 for the full pension, as your bank balance is just one part of the total asset test. Exceeding these thresholds reduces, then cancels, your pension, with higher upper limits for part pensions.
A single homeowner with more than $321,500 in assets will start to see a decrease in their Age Pension payments. If their assets reach $714,500, their Age Pension payments will be reduced to $0. For a non-homeowner couple, the maximum assets cut-off is $1,332,000.
What's Changing From 10 January 2026
Centrelink does not monitor your bank accounts in real time. Access to detailed bank information is generally limited to investigations of suspected fraud.
People of pension age can have up to £10,000 savings in the bank before it affects their pension credit. So if you have savings over £10,000, it will start to count towards your income calculation. Every £500 over £10,000 will be calculated as £1 additional income per week.
So, does cash in the bank affect pension entitlements? Yes. Centrelink considers every dollar when deciding how much pension you'll receive. The more assets you hold, the more your pension may be reduced.
You may be able to get Age Pension for the whole time you're outside Australia, even if you're leaving to live in another country. If you leave within 2 years of returning to Australia to live, your payment may stop if you: came back to Australia to live.
If you need to report your employment income, it'll usually be every 14 days, on a date we tell you. We call this scheduled reporting.
The amount you save has no effect on your State Pension. Whether you have savings accounts, personal pensions, property or other sources of income, your State Pension will remain the same.
By paying off your credit card, personal loan, home loan or any other debt, you will reduce the value of your assessable assets and boost your rate of pension. For example, paying off $50,000 of debt could increase your pension by $3,900 per year. Find out what's included in the Age Pension assets test.
Your savings and investments
If you have £10,000 or less in savings and investments this will not affect your Pension Credit. If you have more than £10,000, every £500 over £10,000 counts as £1 income a week. For example, if you have £11,000 in savings, this counts as £2 income a week.
Centrelink has rules about how much of your assets you can 'gift' before your pension will be affected. If you lend money to a family member the loan will be assessed as part of your assets and could affect your pension entitlement. This includes if you take out a mortgage over your home and loan the money to family.
If you have money, savings and investments between £6,000 and £16,000 your Universal Credit payments will be reduced. Your payments will be reduced by £4.35 for every £250 you have between £6,000 and £16,000. Another £4.35 is taken off for any remaining amount that is not a complete £250.
Pensioners might need to pay tax on their interest if it's higher than their personal savings tax allowance. You'll need to declare any interest on your self-assessment tax return if you submit one.
If you (and your partner) are over State Pension age, the lower capital limit is £10,000. However, if you have more than £16,000 in capital, then you may not be able to claim Housing Benefit or Council Tax Support. This rule doesn't apply if you receive the Guarantee Credit part of Pension Credit.
Pension Credit
This may be extended up to eight weeks if you're away because of the death of a close relative. If you're going abroad for medical treatment, you may be able to receive Pension Credit for up to 26 weeks. You can't keep receiving Pension Credit if you move abroad permanently.
An employer can terminate a plan for various reasons including bankruptcy, merger or simply voluntarily terminating it. See also: Terminating a retirement plan. Partial plan termination FAQs.
If you don't give us the evidence before you leave Australia, your payment may stop when you depart. If we've stopped your payment, we'll reassess it once we get your supporting documents. You can also use your online account to get information on how your travel could affect your payments and concession cards.
Assets Test
A single homeowner can have up to $714,500 of assessable assets and receive a part pension – for a single non-homeowner the higher threshold is $972,500. For a couple, the higher threshold to $1,074,000 for a homeowner and $1,332,000 for a non-homeowner.
Generally, there's no checking account maximum amount you can have. There is, however, a limit on how much of your checking account balance is covered by the FDIC (typically $250,000 per depositor, per account ownership type, per financial institution), though some banks have programs with higher limits.
Liquid Assets waiting period. If you have savings or other liquid assets over $5,499 you will have up to a maximum of 13 weeks to serve a Liquid Assets Waiting Period. That is, your first payment will be delayed.