RetirementEstate Planning

Two People, One Retirement: Would the Plan Still Work for One of You?

5 November 2026

A couple in their sixties at a kitchen table, one reading a letter while the other writes notes

Retirement planning

A couple’s super, income and Age Pension are best planned as one household. It helps to know what that plan looks like for the partner who is left, and whether your paperwork says what you both want.

1. At a Glance

Tested as one.Services Australia counts both partners’ income and assets, but your super stays in two names.

Reassessed as single.If a partner passes away, the survivor is assessed against single rates and limits, while some costs stay the same.

Fund by fund.Nominations and reversionary pensions follow each fund’s rules, so check yours.

If you’re planning retirement with a partner, you’ve probably talked about when each of you stops work, roughly what you’ll spend, and what your super and the Age Pension will cover between you. The harder question is what that plan looks like for one of you, if the other passes away first.

It’s a difficult conversation, and none of it has to be settled in one sitting.

2. One Plan, Two Sets of Accounts

For the Age Pension, Services Australia assesses a couple as a unit, counting both partners’ income and assets. From 20 September 2026, the maximum rate for each member of a couple is $933.00 a fortnight, or $1,866 combined, against $1,237.70 for a single person.

What counts can also depend on each partner’s age and whether their super is still in accumulation or paying an income stream.

Super works the other way. Each account belongs to one person, with its own balance, nomination and tax treatment.

The split between your accounts shapes which balance you draw on first and what passes to whom, in what form, when one of you passes away.

For a total super balance above $3 million, Division 296 tax (law since March 2026) reduces super tax concessions from 1 July 2026, with a further step above $10 million (2026-27 thresholds). Each partner is tested separately.

3. When One of You Stops Work First

If one of you stops work years before the other, the years in between need their own plan. You can usually start using super from 60, depending on whether you’re still working, and Age Pension age is 67. Questions that come up:

1
What the household lives on. One salary, plus whatever the retired partner draws from super.
2
Which account to draw on first. It decides what is left in each name. Tax on pension income is for your accountant.
3
What the Age Pension counts. Once the older partner reaches 67, both partners’ income is assessed, so a salary still coming in can affect their pension.
4
Any remaining home loan. Whether to keep it or clear it before the first salary stops. Your broker can explore the available options and their costs.

4. What Changes for the One Who Is Left

When a partner passes away, Services Australia reassesses the survivor’s income and assets as a single person, and the survivor must meet the single thresholds to stay eligible. Two things move at once:

1
The household’s pension. At the maximum rates, it falls from $1,866 combined to one single rate of $1,237.70: more for the survivor, less for the household. More income or assets can mean a lower single rate, or none.
2
The assets limit. For homeowners, from 20 September 2026, the part pension cut-off is $1,121,000 for a couple combined and $745,750 for a single person. The survivor is tested against the lower figure, although some assets, including the principal home, are generally exempt.

Couples who were both getting a pension may also receive a lump sum bereavement payment, usually the couple’s combined rate less the new single rate, calculated over 14 weeks from the day of death. Services Australia confirms what applies.

Worth knowing:

A Single Person’s Retirement Budget Is Well over Half a Couple’s.

A small pile of opened letters and a set of keys on a kitchen bench

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) puts a comfortable retirement for homeowners aged 65 to 84 at $78,998 a year for a couple and $56,166 for a single person, in the June quarter 2026. On Ryker’s arithmetic, the single budget is about 71% of the couple’s.

5. Putting What You Both Want in Writing

Super does not automatically form part of your estate, so your will alone may not determine who receives it. What the survivor receives depends on paperwork that’s easy to set up once and forget:

1
Death benefit nominations. Not all funds offer every type. Moneysmart describes lapsing binding nominations as needing renewal every 3 years, and funds can have different rules on when one stops being valid. With no nomination, the fund may decide who gets the money.
2
Reversionary pensions. If your partner is the reversionary beneficiary of your account-based pension, they automatically become entitled to it when you pass away. Its value at the date of death counts towards their own transfer balance cap 12 months later. Some reversionary nominations can’t be changed once made.
3
In what form, and the tax. A partner can take a death benefit as an income stream, a lump sum or both, but it can’t stay in accumulation phase. A lump sum to a spouse is tax-free. An adult child who wasn’t financially dependent can pay tax on the taxable component, at the Australian Taxation Office’s maximum rates of 15% on the taxed element and 30% on any untaxed element, plus the Medicare levy.
4
Where everything is. One list of accounts, policies, the loan, your wills and who you deal with, where you can both find it.

Illustrative scenario:

Testing a Plan for Two on One

An older couple walking a coastal track through low scrub towards sandstone cliffs and the sea

Marco and Leanne are fictional, and this example is for illustration only. Marco, 64, wants to stop work next year. Leanne, 61, spent about ten years out of paid work raising their children, now adults, so her super is well under half of Marco’s. She plans to work part-time a few more years. They own their home, with about $70,000 left on the loan.

Their Ryker financial adviser laid the two timelines side by side, then asked what the household would look like for one of them alone: on the surviving partner’s income and available super before Age Pension age, and any Age Pension entitlement later.

Together they spend about $85,000 a year. Working through their costs with the adviser, they estimated the survivor would still need about $60,000. The adviser also showed that, on today’s limits, assets comfortably under the couple’s part pension cut-off could still sit above the single cut-off.

They looked at whose account a pension should come from first, and agreed that naming Leanne as reversionary beneficiary on Marco’s pension matched what they both wanted, subject to the fund’s terms. Leanne’s binding nomination had lapsed.

Their adviser assessed contribution options for Leanne, including spouse contributions and contribution splitting, alongside their retirement income needs. Their accountant was asked to confirm the relevant tax treatment, including any super left to their adult children. Their broker was asked to explore the options and costs for the remaining loan before Marco’s salary stops.

They left with agreed priorities, not a finished plan. Leanne renews her nomination now. Marco’s reversionary nomination is made when his pension starts, once the fund confirms its terms. Contribution decisions follow the adviser’s assessment and accountant’s tax input, while the broker explores the loan options. The plan is retested for one of them at a review in 12 months, or sooner if health or work changes.

6. Questions to Take to Your Financial Adviser

Which account should we draw on first, and what does that leave in each name?

If most of our assets passed to one of us, would they sit above the single limits?

Do our nominations and any reversionary pension say what we both want?

What should our accountant and broker look at first?

Retirement for two

7. Test Your Plan for Both of You, and for One

Ryker can map your two timelines, test the household on one income and one pension, and check your nominations match what you both want. We help shape your super and contribution strategy, working alongside your accountant on the tax implications and your broker on options and costs for any remaining loan.

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