Thinking of gifting the grandkids some money? Check this first

It’s that time of year when people start thinking about gifting. We are not talking about socks, perfume or movie tickets, we’re talking about gifting a significant amount of money or assets – enough it would impact your pension or aged care costs. Before you gift, here’s what you should consider.

If you receive a means-tested pension such as the age pension, or you (or your partner) are receiving aged care then if you make (or receive) a gift you will need to disclose it to Services Australia. Whether you are a single or a couple, the allowable gifting amount is $10,000 in a financial year and $30,000 in five financial years.

Early inheritances are well and good, but make sure you don’t regret gifting away money you might have actually needed.Credit: Simon Letch

Gifts above the allowed amounts are considered a “deprived asset” which are counted as assets and deemed to earn income for pension and aged care, just like they are in your investments, for five years. After that time, they stop being assessed.

Gifts can be obvious – giving cash is typical – but it can also be a gift if you transfer an asset for less than market value. This can happen when cars and properties are transferred for less than they are worth. Under these circumstances, the difference between the market value and the amount paid is a gift.

Let’s say Shirley owns her home, she has $10,000 of personal assets, $600,000 of investments which earn $30,000 a year, and she receives $6666 a year of pension. Shirley decides to gift $500,000 from her investments to her children and grandchildren.

Assuming she has not gifted before, she can gift $10,000. The other $490,000 will be considered a deprived asset, included in her assets and deemed to earn income for the next five years.

While the intention of gifting is often to help family members, you need to make sure that you don’t rob Peter to pay Paul.

Shirley has reduced her assets by $10,000 and her income by $225 per year, which would see her pension increase by $780 a year. In five years the $490,000 will no longer be assessed and Shirley will be assessed on the $100,000 of investments she has left. At that time Shirley would receive around $30,000 a year in pension.

Many people wrongly believe that gifting causes you to lose pension. In reality, gifting normally delays a pension increase. The exception is when you gift an asset that was exempt from means testing such as the family home, gifting it turns it into an assessable asset that is deemed to earn income.

The problem for many people is what they stand to gain in the future is not worth what they lose today. In Shirley’s case she loses access to $500,000 of investments and the $30,000 a year of income they earn and in return, she gets an increase in her pension of around $23,000 a year after five years.

Sometimes people try to gift an inheritance; it’s quite common where one member of a couple passes away, leaving their assets to the other. The survivor decides they would prefer to give it to the children or grandchildren.

While the assets may never touch their bank account, it is still a gift – they were entitled to those assets and chose to give it to someone else.

The gifting rules can catch you even if you gift before moving into aged care or claiming age pension, with gifts made in the five years prior being considered at the time of assessment. While the intention of gifting is often to help family members, you need to make sure that you don’t rob Peter to pay Paul.

Rachel Lane is the author of the bestselling book Aged Care. Who Cares? and Downsizing Made Simple with fellow finance expert Noel Whittaker. The new edition of Downsizing Made Simple is now available online.

• Advice given in this article is general in nature and is not intended to influence readers’ decisions about investing or financial products. They should always seek their own professional advice that takes into account their own personal circumstances before making any financial decisions.

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