Keep, rent or sell the family home when you retire overseas
Your home stays exempt from the Age Pension assets test for the first 12 months of a temporary absence, and rent from it counts as income.
Checked 20 October 2026
The family home
Keep it, rent it or sell it, and what each means for the pension and tax.
Guides on The family home
Does my house count for the Age Pension if I move overseas?
Services Australia exempts your home from the Age Pension assets test for the first 12 months of a temporary absence overseas.
Checked 20 October 2026
Guides to read with these
Foreign resident tax rates for Australians who retire overseas (2025-26)
If you are a foreign resident for tax, the ATO's 2025-26 rates are 30% from the first dollar up to A$135,000, 37% to A$190,000 and 45% above.
Checked 20 October 2026
Moving overseas permanently on the Age Pension: what changes the day you leave
If you leave Australia to live overseas, Services Australia pays an outside-Australia rate from the day you leave: the base rate only, A$29,520.40 a year for a single person or A$44,506.80 for a couple who are both eligible (from 20 September 2026).
Checked 20 October 2026
Try retiring overseas before you move: the winter away, the long stay and the trial year
Smartraveller suggests a temporary move of 6 to 12 months before you commit to living overseas.
Checked 20 October 2026
Returning to Australia after living overseas: your pension and Medicare
Services Australia says you usually don't need to tell them you're back.
Checked 20 October 2026
Questions about your situation?
Bring them to a free planning session on Zoom, and we will answer them for your situation.
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