Retirement Income & Investments

Downsizing & The Age Pension How downsizing can affect your Age Pension: a Sunshine Coast guide By Simon Pederson, M.Fin, B.Bus (FP), Founder and Lead Retirement Planner Key Takeaways Usually, downsizing trims your Age Pension rather than ending it. The trim comes from the cash left over, not the home. How big the trim is depends on choices you still control: what you spend on the new place, where the rest sits, and who in a couple holds it. Most of those choices run on a clock that starts when…

Downsizing on the Sunshine Coast: the $300k downsizer contribution, what leftover cash means for the Age Pension from 20 Sep 2026, and when rightsizing helps.

2026 figures: ASFA and Super Consumers Australia benchmarks, how the Age Pension fits in, the 60–67 bridge years, and what $800k could look like.

If the stock market crashes the year you retire, selling your investments to fund your lifestyle permanently locks in those losses. This is called the “Bad Timing Tax.” To prevent it, you need a cash buffer that covers your living expenses while your main investments recover.