The short version
Services Australia applies two means tests to the Age Pension — an income test and an assets test — and pays whichever produces the lower pension. The calculator runs both, reports both reductions, and tells you which one is binding.
Every statutory figure is held in a single versioned source with its own effective dates, and is read into the calculator at build time. There are no rates typed into the calculator's code. When rates change on 20 March or 20 September, the data changes — the arithmetic does not.
Formulas
1. Deemed income
Centrelink assumes a rate of return on financial assets regardless of what they actually earn. Returns above the deemed rate are not counted.
The threshold is the single threshold for a single person, and the combined pensioner-couple threshold for a couple.
2. Assessable income
3. Income test reduction
The taper is 50 cents in the dollar for a single person. For a couple it is published as 25 cents each per dollar of combined income — which is the same 50 cents per dollar applied on a combined basis, then split. The calculator works on the combined basis throughout and halves at the end, and asserts that the two published figures remain consistent with each other. Applying 50 cents to each partner individually would double-count the reduction; that is a common error.
4. Assets test reduction
This is a step function, not a straight line — a point most calculators get wrong. The Department of Social Services sets out four steps (Social Security Guide 4.2.3; Social Security Act s1064-G1, G3 and G4):
The $19.50 a year per $250 step is the same rate Services Australia publishes as $3.00 per fortnight per $1,000 — $19.50 ÷ 26 = $0.75, and $0.75 × 4 = $3.00. The practical consequence is that assets can rise by up to $249 above a step boundary with no reduction at all.
The rounding is applied per person, not to a couple's combined excess. For an ordinary couple both approaches give the same answer. For a couple separated due to illness they do not: rounding the combined excess reaches nil at $1,299,750, one step below the published $1,300,000 cut-off. Halving the excess before rounding down reproduces the published figure exactly.
5. Result
For a couple, the maximum rate used is the combined rate and the result is halved. For a couple separated due to illness, each partner is assessed at the single rate — which is why their cut-off points are markedly higher.
How this is checked
Services Australia publishes cut-off points — the income and asset levels at which the pension reaches zero. Those cut-offs were not used to build the calculator. They are used to test it, in the strong form: for each of the six asset cut-offs the test searches for the first dollar at which the calculator pays nil, and requires it to equal the published figure to the dollar — and separately requires that one dollar below the cut-off still pays something. A calculator that merely reaches nil somewhere at or before the cut-off would pass a weaker test while being hundreds of dollars wrong; this one does not.
That pins the maximum rate, the free area, the taper rate and the $250 step rounding simultaneously, against figures published independently of all four.
Figures used, with sources
Each figure below is verified against the primary source shown and carries its own effective dates. This table is generated from the same source the calculator reads — it cannot drift out of step with the tool.
| Figure | Value | Basis | Effective | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age Pension maximum total — single, per fortnight (incl. supplements) | $1,200.90 | fortnight | 2026-03-20 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Age Pension maximum total — couple each, per fortnight (incl. supplements) | $905.20 | fortnight | 2026-03-20 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Age Pension maximum total — couple combined, per fortnight (incl. supplements) | $1,810.40 | fortnight | 2026-03-20 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Age Pension maximum basic rate — single, per fortnight | $1,100.30 | fortnight | 2026-03-20 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Age Pension maximum basic rate — couple each, per fortnight | $829.40 | fortnight | 2026-03-20 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Age Pension maximum basic rate — couple combined, per fortnight | $1,658.80 | fortnight | 2026-03-20 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Pension Supplement — maximum, single, per fortnight | $86.50 | fortnight | 2026-03-20 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Pension Supplement — maximum, couple each, per fortnight | $65.20 | fortnight | 2026-03-20 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Pension Supplement — minimum, single, per fortnight | $46.60 | fortnight | 2026-03-20 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Pension Supplement — minimum, couple each, per fortnight | $35.10 | fortnight | 2026-03-20 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Energy Supplement — single, per fortnight | $14.10 | fortnight | 2026-03-20 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Energy Supplement — couple each, per fortnight | $10.60 | fortnight | 2026-03-20 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Income test free area — single, per fortnight | $226 | fortnight | 2026-07-01 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Income test free area — couple combined, per fortnight | $396 | fortnight | 2026-07-01 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Income test free area — illness-separated couple combined, per fortnight | $396 | fortnight | 2026-07-01 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Income test taper - SINGLE: pension reduction per $1 of income above the free area | 50 cents per $1 | per_dollar | 2009-09-20 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Income test taper - COUPLE: each partner’s pension reduction per $1 of combined income above the free area | 25 cents per $1 | per_dollar | 2009-09-20 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Income test cut-off — single, per fortnight | $2,627.80 | fortnight | 2026-07-01 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Income test cut-off — couple combined, per fortnight | $4,016.80 | fortnight | 2026-07-01 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Income test cut-off — illness-separated couple combined, per fortnight | $5,199.60 | fortnight | 2026-07-01 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Assets test free area — single homeowner | $333,000 | total | 2026-07-01 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Assets test free area — couple homeowner combined | $499,000 | total | 2026-07-01 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Assets test free area — single non-homeowner | $600,000 | total | 2026-07-01 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Assets test free area — couple non-homeowner combined | $766,000 | total | 2026-07-01 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Assets test cut-off — single homeowner | $733,500 | total | 2026-07-01 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Assets test cut-off — couple homeowner combined | $1,102,500 | total | 2026-07-01 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Assets test cut-off — single non-homeowner | $1,000,500 | total | 2026-07-01 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Assets test cut-off — couple non-homeowner combined | $1,369,500 | total | 2026-07-01 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Assets test cut-off - couple separated due to illness, homeowner combined | $1,300,000 | total | 2026-07-01 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Assets test cut-off - couple separated due to illness, non-homeowner combined | $1,567,000 | total | 2026-07-01 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Assets test taper — pension reduction per $1,000 of assets above the free area, per fortnight | $3.00 per $1,000 | per_1000_per_fortnight | 2017-01-01 | guides.dss.gov.au |
| Deeming rate — lower | 1.25% | — | 2026-03-20 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Deeming rate — upper | 3.25% | — | 2026-03-20 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Deeming threshold — single | $66,800 | total | 2026-07-01 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Deeming threshold — pensioner couple combined | $110,600 | total | 2026-07-01 → 2026-09-19 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Work Bonus — employment income disregarded per fortnight | $300 | fortnight | 2026-07-01 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Work Bonus income bank — maximum accrual | $11,800 | total | 2026-07-01 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Age Pension qualifying age | 67 | — | 2023-07-01 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Gifting free limit — per financial year | $10,000 | annual | 2026-07-01 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
| Gifting free limit — rolling 5 years | $30,000 | rolling_5_years | 2026-07-01 | servicesaustralia.gov.au |
What is deliberately not modelled
An estimator that quietly guesses at the hard cases is worse than one that says what it does not cover. This calculator does not model:
- Transitional-rate pensioners. People receiving a part pension at 19 September 2009 may be on transitional rates, which have a different maximum rate and a different taper (40 cents single, 20 cents each for a couple). Applying standard rates to a transitional pensioner produces a materially wrong figure.
- Rent Assistance, which increases both the payment and every cut-off point.
- The Work Bonus income bank. Only the fortnightly amount is applied; accrued balance, which can be substantial for irregular work, is not.
- Component-level reduction ordering. The reduction is applied to the total rate. In the legislation the pension supplement reduces to a minimum before the basic rate is affected, which can matter at the margins of a part pension.
- Gifting and deprivation, compensation preclusion periods, and income streams with special asset-test treatment such as some lifetime annuities and defined benefit pensions.
- Qualification itself — age, residence and the 10-year rule. The calculator assumes you already qualify.
- Rounding of the final rate. The $250 assets-excess rounding is implemented (see formula 4). What is not is any rounding Services Australia may apply to the final payment figure — the calculator reports exact decimals, so a result may differ from an assessment by a few cents. We could not find a published rule for final-rate rounding in the Social Security Guide; if you know of one, please tell us.
Privacy
The calculation runs entirely in the visitor's browser. Nothing entered into the calculator is transmitted, stored or emailed — there is no form submission and no server call. Anonymous usage analytics record that the tool was used, the relationship status, the result category and a broad asset band; they never record the amounts entered. This mirrors the approach taken across the site.
Citing this calculator
Journalists, researchers and advisers are welcome to cite or link to this tool. Please cite the methodology page rather than the calculator itself, so readers can see the assumptions.
iAdvice Technology Pty Ltd (2026). Age Pension Calculator — Methodology and Sources. https://www.iadvice.net.au/age-pension-calculator-methodology.htmlIf a figure here looks wrong, please tell us at support@iadvice.net.au — corrections are made at source and flow through to the tool on the next build.
Update cycle
Age Pension payment rates are adjusted by the Department of Social Services every 20 March and 20 September. Services Australia reviews the income and assets limits in March, July and September. Deeming rates are set by the Minister for Social Services and change at no fixed interval.
The figures used here carry explicit effective-from and effective-to dates and the next scheduled review date, both shown in the table above. If you are reading this after the effective-to date, the calculator is out of date and should be treated with caution — please let us know.