Taking the Age Pension or NZ Super abroad

Two pensions that travel differently

Two people retire to the same town on the same day, one from Perth and one from Wellington. The Australian keeps being paid, though the rate can fall. The New Zealander who is moving for good is cut off unless an application went in first: NZ Super stops when you leave New Zealand unless you apply to keep it, and Work and Income wants that application at least 6 weeks before you go.

Both rates depend on how long you lived at home. This article covers only portability: what keeps paying, at what rate, and what you have to tell the agency. Tax and savings are in leaving Australia and leaving New Zealand. [M1] [M12]

Age Pension at 6 weeks and at 26

Six weeks away costs you the supplements; 26 weeks changes the rate itself. Under 6 weeks, your rate does not change in most cases. After 6 weeks the Pension Supplement drops to the basic rate and the Energy Supplement stops. After 26 weeks of continuous absence, the rate is recalculated with the Pension Portability Rate Calculator, which is where your years of Australian residence come in. Someone who leaves to live in another country is paid an outside-Australia rate from the date they leave.

The Social Security Act 1991 gives the Age Pension an unlimited portability period for any absence, so leaving does not by itself end the payment. The 26 weeks can be extended when an absence is temporary and you cannot return in time because of an event the Act lists, such as a serious illness or a natural disaster. That is a decision on your circumstances.

One exception can stop payment. If you came back to live in Australia, started the Age Pension after returning and leave again within 2 years, it is not payable while you are outside Australia, though Services Australia says it may continue in an agreement country. [M1] [M2] [M3]

The 35-year rule and agreement countries

Thirty-five years is the line that decides how much of the Age Pension travels. The Act counts the months you were an Australian resident between turning 16 and reaching pension age. At 420 months or more, your residence factor is 1 and after 26 weeks you are paid the full domestic rate. Below that, your usual rate is multiplied by a smaller factor: with 10 years as a resident, Services Australia's example gives you 10/35ths of it. Your usual rate itself depends on your income and assets, so no single dollar figure fits everyone.

Agreements change the picture. The Act's portability Part does not apply where the Social Security (International Agreements) Act 1999 applies to the payment, and you usually get a part pension from each agreement country you live in. Services Australia's lists include Portugal, Spain and Italy in Europe, Japan in Asia, and Canada and the United States in the Americas, plus New Zealand. France, Mexico, Costa Rica, Thailand and Malaysia do not appear.

The Portugal guide and Spain guide cover two listed countries. For a destination with no agreement the rules above apply, and the Malaysia and Thailand comparison puts two of those side by side. [M1] [M3] [M7] [M8] [M9] [M10]

Telling Services Australia, and the means test

The day before you fly is the deadline if you are on scheduled reporting. Services Australia wants to hear from you then, so you are paid the right amount and do not build up a debt. The easiest route is your Centrelink online account through myGov, and you can also call the Older Australians line.

The means test follows you. The Act counts income earned, derived or received from any source, in Australia or outside it, and defines assets to include property or money outside Australia. Income and assets that you or your partner hold overseas are converted with exchange rates, and a high amount can reduce your pension.

Claiming from overseas is narrower. People outside Australia are told to claim through an international social security agreement. In an agreement country you can claim online if you linked a Centrelink account to myGov before you left; otherwise you use the claim form for that country or call the International services line. That leaves two gaps: how to claim from a country with no agreement, and whether payment can go to an overseas bank account. Not published; ask Services Australia before you leave. [M1] [M4] [M5] [M6] [M11]

NZ Super: 26 weeks, longer trips and living overseas

A trip of up to 26 weeks changes nothing if you intend to be away less than that, intend to live mainly in New Zealand and consider it home. If NZ Super is your only payment you do not need to tell Work and Income. If you are delayed past 26 weeks, payments stop after the 26th week and you may have to pay back the 26 weeks, unless the delay was unexpected and you apply before it ends.

For a longer trip you must apply and be ordinarily resident in New Zealand. The rate depends on the months you lived in New Zealand between ages 20 and 65, out of 540. In Work and Income's example, 18 years is 216 months, so you get 216/540 of the full rate.

Living overseas is different again. Payments stop unless you apply, and other payments such as the Winter Energy Payment and Accommodation Supplement do not continue. NZ Super cannot be paid in the United Kingdom, where the UK agreement applies instead. Where you go sets the rate, in three ways.

• In an agreement country (Work and Income names Australia, Canada, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, Malta, the Netherlands, South Korea and the United Kingdom), the agreement sets how much you get.
• In one of 22 Pacific places, such as Fiji, Samoa or the Cook Islands, you get the full basic rate with 20 years or more lived in New Zealand since age 20, or 5% of it for each year between 10 and 20.
• In any other country, such as Portugal or Thailand, the share depends on your months in New Zealand between 20 and 65, as above.

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NZ Super: residence years, overseas pensions and getting paid

Someone born in 1958 needs 10 years of New Zealand residence since turning 20 to qualify. Someone born on or after 1 July 1977 needs 20. For people turning 65 from 1 July 2024 the requirement rises in steps by date of birth, one more year for each two-year birth band after 30 June 1959. Five of the years must fall after age 50. Time in an agreement country, or in the Cook Islands, Niue or Tokelau, can count.

If you receive a pension from another government, Work and Income reduces your NZ payment by $1 for every $1 of it, and if the overseas pension is larger you get only that. This does not apply to NZ Super paid in a country with no agreement, but it can in agreement and Pacific countries.

Payments go to a New Zealand account every 2 weeks or an overseas account every 4 weeks. Changing takes around 4 to 6 weeks, so keep the New Zealand account open until the first overseas payment arrives. Work and Income reviews your circumstances every 52 weeks, and payments stop if you do not return the form. You do not pay New Zealand tax on the payments while overseas, but you may owe tax where you live.

Applying from overseas works only in some cases. You must be ordinarily resident in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue or Tokelau when you apply, and there is a separate page for people in an agreement country. Contact International Services before you leave. [M12] [M15] [M16] [M17] [M19]

Side by side

The two pensions fail in opposite directions. The Age Pension keeps paying with no end date, but the rate shrinks after 26 weeks unless you have 35 years of Australian residence, and it is means tested on worldwide income and assets. NZ Super stops unless you apply, and the share depends on months in New Zealand or on the agreement for your country. Work and Income says it does not depend on income or assets, though a foreign government pension can be deducted from it.

Both agencies can work out your rate from your record, which is the quickest way to turn months of residence into a figure. Ask Services Australia or Work and Income which income, assets and overseas pensions they will count, whether your destination is on an agreement or Pacific list, and what a stay of more than 26 weeks does to your rate. [M1] [M12] [M17] [M19]