The purpose of the Age Pension is to make sure you have enough income in retirement. It is a fortnightly payment to help you meet the cost of living, if your retirement savings are below a certain level.

To be eligible for the Age Pension, you must have reached a certain age. If you satisfy the age criteria, your current level of wealth is then assessed to determine if you can receive a payment. You are also assessed based on:

• Whether you are single or a member of a couple,
• Whether you own your own home or not.

At what age can I apply for the Age Pension?

The qualifying age depends on when you were born.

An increase in the qualifying age for the Centrelink Age Pension from age 65 to age 67 will be phased in from 2017 to 2023. The qualifying age will be increased by six months every two years, commencing 1 July 2017 and reaching age 67 on 1 July 2023, as shown in the table below.

Date of birth	Women eligible for Age Pension at age	Men eligible for Age Pension at age
	Eligible	Eligible
1 January 1949 - 30 June 1952	65	65
1 July 1952 - 31 December 1953	65.5	65.5
1 January 1954 - 30 June 1955	66	66
1 July 1955 - 31 December 1956	66.5	66.5
On or after 1 January 1957	67	67

NB: As an extra service we provide, you can also search the Centrelink website from our site by typing keywords into the eWombat search facility in the right hand panel - quicker and easier than going to the Centrelink site itself.

For further information on each of these payments and whether you may be eligible, please call 03 9542 3200 or askus@freedomfinancialplanning.com.au