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Calculating a Pension Bonus 065-07030010

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Claim for Age Pension and Pension Bonus (SA002)

Claim for Pension Bonus Bereavement Payment (SA388)

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Information you need to know about your claim for Age Pension and Pension Bonus (CI006)

Services Australia website

Payment rates of the Pension Bonus Scheme

Examples - calculating Pension Bonus when marital status has not changed in the bonus period

Table 1: For more examples, see References page for a link to the Guide to Social Security Law.

Item

Example

1

Qualifying period is less than 5 years

Customer was registered for the Pension Bonus Scheme (PBS) from 1 July 1998 to 9 January 2002.

Overall qualifying period

  • calculate how many full years and days in any part year are in the bonus period:
    • 1 July 1998 - 30 June 1999 = 1 year
    • 1 July 1999 - 30 June 2000 = 1 year
    • 1 July 2000 - 30 June 2001 = 1 year
    • 1 July 2001 - 9 January 2002 = 27 weeks and 3 days (193 days)
  • calculate the total period:
    • 3 plus (193 divided by 365) = 3.5287671
    • Rounded to 3 decimal points 3.529

Pension multiple

  • 3.529 (overall qualifying period) x 0.094 = 0.331726

Calculate Pension Bonus

  • rate of pension at grant is $10,000
  • $10,000 x 0.331726 (pension multiple) x 3.529 (overall qualifying period) = $11,706.61
  • entitlement is rounded to $11,706.60

2

Qualifying period is more than 5 years

Customer was registered for the Pension Bonus Scheme (PBS) from 4 December 2004 to 21 September 2011.

Overall qualifying period

  • calculate how many full years and days in any part year are in the bonus period:
    • 4 December 2004 - 3 December 2005 = 1 year
    • 4 December 2005 - 3 December 2006 = 1 year
    • 4 December 2006 - 3 December 2007 = 1 year
    • 4 December 2007 - 2 December 2008 = 1 year
    • 3 December 2008 - 2 December 2009 = 1 year
    • 3 December 2009 - 2 December 2010 = 1 year
    • 3 December 2010 - 21 December 2011 = 36 weeks and 18 days (292 days)
  • since the above period is greater than 5 years, only the last 5 full year bonus periods of accruing membership are used, from 4 December 2005 to 2 December 2010

Pension multiple

  • 5 (Overall Qualifying Period) x 0.094 = 0.47

Calculate Pension Bonus

  • rate of pension at grant is $10,000
  • $10,000 x 0.47 (pension multiple) x 5 (Overall Qualifying Period) = $23,500

Examples = calculating the Pension Bonus when marital status has changed in the bonus period

Table 2: For more examples, see References page for a link to the Guide to Social Security Law

Item

Example

1

Work out percentage of maximum basic pension rate

Example 1

  • customer's actual entitlement using the means test is $7,000 p.a.
  • customer's maximum entitlement not using the means test is $10,000 p.a.
  • 7,000 divided by 10,000 X 100 = 70%

The customer's percentage is 70%

Example 2

  • customer's actual entitlement using the means test is $5,650 p.a.
  • customer's maximum entitlement not using the means test is $10,750 p.a.
  • 5650 divided by 10,750 x 100 = 52.55813

Rounding this to 3 decimal points, the customer's percentage is 52.558%

2

Work out overall qualifying period

Customer was registered for the PBS from 1 July 1998 to 9 January 2002.

  • calculate how many full years and days in any part year are in the bonus period:
    • 1 July 1998 - 30 June 1999 = 1 year
    • 1 July 1999 - 30 June 2000 = 1 year
    • 1 July 2000 - 30 June 2001 = 1 year
    • 1 July 2001 - 9 January 2002 = 27 weeks and 3 days (193 days)
  • total period:
    • 3 plus (193 divided by 365) = 3.5287671
    • Rounded to 3 decimal points = 3.529

3

Work out separate qualifying periods for when single and partnered

Customer was married at the time of registration and separated on 28 July 2001. Using the same example at Item 2:

  • partnered period:
    • 1 July 1998 - 30 June 1999 = 1 year
    • 1 July 1999 - 30 June 2000 = 1 year
    • 1 July 2000 - 30 June 2001 = 1 year
    • 1 July 2001 - 28 July 2001 = 4 weeks (total of 28 days)
  • total period as partnered person:
    • 3 plus (28 divided by 365) = 3.077 rounded up to 3 places
  • single period:
    • 29 July 2001 - 9 January 2002 = 23 weeks and 4 days (total of 165 days)
  • total period as single person:
    • 65 divided by 365 = 0.452 rounded to 3 places

4

Calculate pension multiple

Using the same example at Item 3 where the Overall Qualifying Period was calculated as 3.529, the pension multiple is:

  • 3.529 x 0.094 = 0.331726

5

Calculate bonus payable for period when single

  • using the same example for a customer single at time of claim at:
    • Item 3 where the qualifying period as a single person was calculated as 0.452
    • Item 4 where the pension multiple was calculated as 0.331726
  • using the actual pension rate of $10,000, the amount of bonus payable for the period when single is:
    • 10 000 x 0.331726 x 0.452 = 1,499.40

6

Calculate bonus payable for period when partnered

  • using the same example for a customer single at time of claim at:
    • item 3 where the qualifying period as partnered person was calculated as 3.077
    • item 4 where the pension multiple was calculated as 0.331726
  • using the notional pension rate of $8,500
  • the amount of bonus payable for period when partnered is:
    • 8,500 x 0.331726 x 3.077 = 8,676.13

7

Calculate total bonus payable

  • using the example in Item 6 and Item 7, add the 2 amounts together and round the final amount:
    • 1499.40 + 8676.13 = 10 175.53
    • $10 175.53 is rounded down to $10,175.50