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How does SAPTO work? (Senior Australians and Pensioners Tax Offset)
Eligible pensioners could be in for a small but welcome financial sweetener come tax time, thanks to this little known tax offset.
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Pension refreshing: How to add to your super pension
Pension accounts can’t accept contributions directly, but a pension refresh can help you add new savings to your retirement income.
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Commonwealth Seniors Health Card: Eligibility and how to apply
Who qualifies for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, the income limits that apply and how to apply, plus a video explainer.
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Pension fund performance: Monthly returns to August 2026
Pension funds posted a solid return in August, with the median Growth fund up 0.9%.
Upcoming webinar
Related party transactions: The SMSF rules you need to know
Thursday 22 October 2026 at 11:00 am AEDT
Related party transactions remain one of the most important and often misunderstood areas of SMSF compliance.
In this webinar, we identify who is subject to the relevant rules and explore common issues that often arise when an SMSF transacts with related parties, including:
- The arm’s length rules
- Providing services to your SMSF
- Acquiring assets from a related party and selling assets to a related party
- Loans and leases to or from your SMSF
- How the in-house asset rules operate in practice
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Watch our previous webinar, SuperGuide members Q&A: September 2026.
Q&A of the month
Q: I’m planning to roll over my pension (Choice Income account) from AustralianSuper to Australian Retirement Trust (ART). My aim is like for like, same investments, tax-free status and minimum pension amount maintained. My concern is that I have to withdraw a lump sum from AustralianSuper into an accumulation account at ART before moving it into a pension at ART. Will there be any tax or limitations with this (I’m under $1.6m), or will it be treated by the ATO as a like-for-like rollover since essentially nothing has changed in my situation? I don’t want to find out I can no longer move it from accumulation to pension and get penalised.
A: Withdrawing a lump sum from a pension, whether as a cash payment or as a rollover to an accumulation account, creates a debit in your transfer balance account for that amount. This makes space to add funds back into pension phase later.
Here’s how that plays out with numbers. Say the current balance in your transfer balance account is $1.2 million, because that’s what you originally used to start your AustralianSuper Choice Income account. If your AustralianSuper balance is now $1 million, rolling that over to ART’s accumulation account creates a debit of $1 million, leaving $200,000 in your transfer balance account. When you then start a new pension with ART using that same $1 million, a credit of $1 million is added back, bringing the balance back to $1.2 million. As long as this never exceeds your personal transfer balance cap, there’s no excess transfer balance tax or other consequence.
The distinction that matters most here is between a rollover and a lump sum payment. A transfer from one fund to another is processed as a rollover, not as a lump sum paid to you that you then contribute to a new fund. If a lump sum is paid to you directly, moving it back into super is limited by contribution caps and by age, since people over 75 can’t make super contributions other than downsizer contributions. It’s worth being precise about which type of request you submit: a direct transfer to a new fund, a lump sum payment to yourself for later re-contribution, or some combination of the two, since these have different rules attached.
Learn more about the transfer balance cap and recontribution strategy.
Tip of the month
In an environment of high property prices and rents, sharing the burden by living with family in retirement has appeal. A properly structured and well-thought-through granny flat arrangement is essential to protect everyone involved and ensure there are no unexpected consequences for your Age Pension.
