For Australians and New Zealanders: your pension when you retire abroad

It can be paid while you live in another country, but the rate usually changes. Services Australia lists what happens as time passes outside Australia ¹:

The 35-year rule. With 35 years or more of Australian residence between 16 and pension age, your rate usually does not change after 26 weeks; with less, you get a proportion: 10 years of residence gives 10/35ths of the usual rate ¹. People already paid abroad on 1 July 2014 with at least 25 years of residence keep their rate under a transitional rule ¹.

Two traps.

• Coming back and leaving again: if you return to Australia to live, start the Age Pension, then travel abroad within 2 years, the payment may stop (it may continue in a country with a social security agreement) ¹.
• Income and assets outside Australia still count in the income and assets tests, so a foreign pension or savings abroad can change your rate ⁵.

How you are paid. If you will be away more than 12 months, Age Pension is paid every 4 weeks, into an Australian or an overseas account; overseas it is paid in local currency or US dollars, converted by the Reserve Bank at the day's rate, usually in 2 to 6 days. Before leaving, link your Centrelink account to myGov, report your income on the business day before you go and tell Services Australia about your travel ².

Social security agreements. Australia has agreements with a number of countries that can help you qualify or change how much you get; you usually get a part pension from each agreement country you lived in ³. Check whether your destination is on the list before you move.

Moving abroad does not change when you can reach your super. You can withdraw it when you turn 65 (even if still working), or when you reach your preservation age and retire (or start a transition-to-retirement income stream) ⁴.

So a 55-year-old Australian retiring to Thailand today cannot live on super until 60: plan another income for the gap, and remember that some retirement visas count only a pension (our visa checker asks where your income comes from). The early-release ground for people leaving Australia applies to temporary residents only, not to citizens and permanent residents ⁴. Beware of anyone offering to release your super early: it is illegal ⁴.

You can usually keep NZ Super if you move abroad, but you must apply first. Call Work and Income's International Services at least 6 weeks before you leave ⁶. It cannot be paid if you move to the United Kingdom ⁶.

A partner who was included in your NZ Super generally stops being paid when you leave ⁶.

Qualifying in the first place: the residence rule is getting longer. For people turning 65 from 1 July 2024, the years you must have lived in New Zealand since age 20 rise gradually from 10 to 20, by date of birth (you also need 5 years since age 50, not necessarily in a row) ⁹:

You must be ordinarily resident in New Zealand when you apply, at 65 or over ⁹. If you plan to move before 65, find out how and when you can apply before you go: leaving too early can mean never qualifying.

• Australia: as a foreign resident for tax purposes you still declare the income you earn in Australia, including Australian pensions and annuities and rent, but you have no tax-free threshold, and you don't pay the Medicare levy ¹⁰. Interest and dividends from Australia are not declared once the payer has withheld tax ¹⁰. Whether you have stopped being resident depends on the ATO's residency tests: check them before you move.
• New Zealand: NZ Super paid abroad under general portability is paid gross (not taxed in New Zealand) ⁷; your new country may tax it: see the tax section of each country page.
• Your new country decides how it taxes you as a resident: every country page has a tax section, and Taxes on pensions abroad explains the 183-day rule and tax treaties.

• [ ] Australia: myGov linked to Centrelink, travel reported, income reported the business day before you leave ².
• [ ] Australia: count your years of residence between 16 and pension age: under 35, your pension drops after 26 weeks ¹.
• [ ] Australia: check your preservation age and how you will bridge the years before it ⁴.
• [ ] New Zealand: call International Services at least 6 weeks before leaving ⁶.
• [ ] New Zealand: if under 65, check you will still meet the residence rule and can apply ⁹.
• [ ] Both: an overseas bank account for the payments, and health cover that works in your new country (see the healthcare section of each country page).