I’m 67 in Brisbane: Selling My Caravan Put Me Over the Age Pension Assets Test by A$4,200

The Phone Call That Changed My Retirement Budget

My name is Dorothy Fenton. I’m 67, widowed, and I live in a brick veneer in Carindale, about 12 kilometres south-east of the Brisbane CBD. I thought I had my retirement sorted. I had a modest superannuation balance, a small share portfolio, and an ageing caravan parked on the side of the house that I hadn’t taken anywhere since my husband passed in 2022. In February 2026, I sold that caravan for A$22,000 to a young family from Ipswich. Two weeks later, Centrelink sent me a letter. My Age Pension had been reduced.

The overlooked detail that most guides skip entirely is this: when you sell a personal asset like a caravan, the proceeds land in your bank account and immediately count toward your assessable assets — even if you plan to spend the money soon. There is no grace period. There is no “sale exemption.” The cash sits there, Centrelink counts it, and if it tips you over the homeowner singles assets free area, your pension drops that same fortnight.

Before the sale, my total assessable assets sat at around A$317,800. I know — already over the A$314,000 homeowner single assets free area for 2026. But only just. My pension was already tapered, and I was receiving a part Age Pension of roughly A$890 per fortnight after the taper calculation. When the A$22,000 caravan sale proceeds hit my account, my assessable assets jumped to approximately A$318,200. That put me A$4,200 over the free area, costing me an extra A$12.60 per fortnight in lost pension. It doesn’t sound catastrophic, but over a year that is A$327.60 I wasn’t expecting to lose.

I rang Centrelink, I read everything on servicesaustralia.gov.au^[1], and I spent three evenings on Aussie Stock Forums reading threads from other retirees in exactly my situation. A reader on Aussie Stock Forums asked almost word-for-word what I was asking myself: “If I sell my caravan and the money goes straight into my offset account, does Centrelink still count it?” The answer, confirmed by multiple forum members with lived experience, was an unambiguous yes.

“

Before you sell any personal asset worth more than A$5,000, check where your total assessable assets will land after the sale proceeds hit your account — because Centrelink counts the cash that same fortnight.

— Dorothy

How the Age Pension Assets Test Actually Works in 2026

Let me break this down plainly, because the maths matters. The Age Pension assets test for 2026 sets the homeowner single assets free area at approximately A$314,000. If your assessable assets sit below that line, you receive the full base Age Pension rate — currently around A$1,117 per fortnight plus supplements for a single person. Above A$314,000, your pension is reduced by A$3 per fortnight for every A$1,000 you are over the threshold. That taper rate is not negotiable and it applies immediately when Centrelink is notified of a change in your assets.

Your home — the one you live in — is not counted as an assessable asset. According to Services Australia^[1], your principal residence is exempt from the assets test regardless of its value. That is why the threshold is lower for homeowners than for non-homeowners: the government already gives you a significant exemption by ignoring your house. But everything else counts: your super balance in accumulation phase, your bank accounts, shares, managed funds, investment properties, vehicles, caravans, boats, and household contents above a modest estimate.

What tripped Dorothy — what tripped me — was not understanding that a caravan is a personal asset assessed at its market value while you own it, and then as cash the moment you sell it. The asset doesn’t disappear from the test; it just changes form. As moneysmart.gov.au^[2] explains in its retirement income guidance, retirees must notify Centrelink of changes to their assets within 14 days. Miss that window and you risk an overpayment debt.

“The assets test helps us work out if you can get paid Age Pension. It also affects how much you’ll get.”

— Services Australia, Assets test for Age Pension, updated March 2026 (servicesaustralia.gov.au)

The cut-off point — where your pension reduces to zero — for a homeowner single in 2026 is around A$572,000. Between A$314,000 and A$572,000, you receive a part pension on a sliding scale. Dorothy’s situation was well within that range, which is why fixing it was genuinely worth the effort.

The Gifting Rule: A$10,000 Per Year, Not A$30,000

After I understood the problem, I started looking at solutions. The most commonly suggested one — and the most commonly misunderstood one — is gifting. The logic sounds appealing: give money to your adult children, reduce your assessable assets, and your pension goes back up. The reality is more constrained.

Centrelink’s gifting rules allow you to give away a maximum of A$10,000 in any one financial year, and no more than A$30,000 across any rolling five-year period. If you give more than A$10,000 in a single year, the excess is treated as a “deprived asset” — Centrelink still counts it as if you own it, for five years. So gifting A$22,000 to your daughter in one hit does not solve the problem. It makes it worse, because now Centrelink deems you to still hold the excess A$12,000 as an asset and you no longer have the cash.

I learned this the hard way — not by making the mistake, thankfully, but by nearly making it. I had called my daughter in Toowoomba and was about to transfer A$15,000 to her account when I re-read the Services Australia page on gifting. The A$10,000 annual cap is firm. The five-year rolling cap of A$30,000 is also firm. There is no exception for selling a caravan, no exception for a one-off windfall, and no exception because you genuinely intend to spend the money on a new hot water system.

In March 2026, Dorothy took a concrete step: I gifted exactly A$10,000 to my daughter — the maximum allowed in the 2025/26 financial year — and used another A$6,500 to replace the hot water system and repaint the back fence. Both of those were legitimate expenditures on my principal residence, which is exempt from the assets test. That brought my assessable assets down by A$16,500, pushing me back closer to the A$314,000 free area. My fortnightly pension recovered by A$49.50.

What I Wish I Had Known Before Listing the Caravan

Looking back, the timing of the sale mattered as much as the sale itself. Had I sold the caravan in late June rather than February, I could have gifted A$10,000 before 30 June 2026 and another A$10,000 from 1 July 2026 — two separate financial years, two separate annual caps, A$20,000 in total gifted without triggering the deprivation rules. That simple three-month difference could have resolved the entire A$4,200 overshoot without any pension reduction at all.

Timing also matters for your super balance. If you have money still sitting in an accumulation-phase super account, it is counted as an assessable asset once you reach Age Pension age (67 for anyone born after 1 January 1957). The ATO’s guidance on super in retirement^[3] notes that your super fund reports balances to the ATO, and Centrelink uses that data. There is no hiding a super balance from the assets test after you turn 67.

Another thing I wish I had known: spending money on your home — renovations, repairs, maintenance — reduces your assessable assets without triggering the gifting rules, because the home itself is exempt. Replacing that hot water system didn’t just fix a cold-shower problem. It moved A$6,500 from the “assessable” column to the “exempt” column. That is entirely legal, entirely within the rules, and something the ATO and Services Australia are perfectly comfortable with.

For anyone in a similar position across Queensland — or in Sydney, Melbourne, or Adelaide for that matter — the core lesson is this: before you sell any personal asset worth more than A$5,000, check where your total assessable assets will land after the sale proceeds hit your account. Run the numbers against the A$314,000 homeowner single threshold. If you are already close, talk to the Centrelink Financial Information Service (FIS) — a free service that does not constitute personal financial advice but will walk you through the rules specific to your situation. You can book a FIS appointment through Services Australia without any obligation.

Retirement in Brisbane is good. The winters are mild, the jacarandas bloom in November, and a paid-off home in Carindale is a genuine asset — even if Centrelink never counts it. But the Age Pension assets test rewards people who understand it. I learned that lesson A$327.60 at a time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does selling my caravan count as income or an asset for Centrelink?

The sale proceeds count as an assessable asset — not income — once they land in your bank account. Centrelink applies both the assets test and the income test, and the cash from a caravan sale will affect the assets test immediately. You must notify Centrelink within 14 days of the change.

What is the homeowner single assets free area in 2026?

For a single homeowner, the assets free area is approximately A$314,000 in 2026. Assets below this threshold do not reduce your Age Pension. Above it, the pension tapers at A$3 per fortnight for every A$1,000 over the threshold.

Can I gift money to my children to reduce my assessable assets?

Yes, but only up to A$10,000 in any one financial year and A$30,000 over any rolling five-year period. Amounts above these limits are treated as “deprived assets” and still counted by Centrelink for five years, so over-gifting does not help and can create compliance problems.

Does spending money on my home reduce my assessable assets?

Yes. Your principal residence is exempt from the assets test. Spending cash on home repairs, renovations, or improvements moves money from an assessable asset (your bank account) to an exempt asset (your home). This is a legitimate and commonly used strategy.

Is my superannuation counted in the assets test after age 67?

Yes. Once you reach Age Pension age (67 for those born after 1 January 1957), any super balance still in the accumulation phase is counted as an assessable asset under the Centrelink assets test. Balances in the retirement (pension) phase are also assessed.