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PedroS(Newbie)Newbie
18 Mar 2026

Hi

Mother in law turned 67 in November 2025, has no super as she's never worked. Husband worked for UN and has passed on. She now gets approx. $750 a week in form of UN pension that she must pay tax on. She recently sold the family home and moved into caravan park close to us so we can look after her as she has early onset dementia . Weekly fees at the park are $230. She has $230,000 left over as a result of downsizing which is sitting in savings account earning 4.75% pa. Should she sets up a super account and deposits the 230k? Would there be tax benefits?

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2 replies
198 views
2 replies

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Most helpful reply

KaraATO(Community Support)Community Support
18 Mar 2026

Hi @PedroS,


A super fund can accept personal contributions for people under age 75. This means a 67-year-old can open a super account, even without a work history.


For people aged 67 to 74, the work test (or work test exemption) only applies if a tax deduction is being claimed for a personal super contribution. The work test requires 40 hours of work in a 30day period during the financial year.


Nonconcessional (aftertax) contributions can still be made without meeting the work test, subject to contribution caps. Once money is in super, the normal preservation rules apply. From age 65, a condition of release is generally met, so funds can be accessed.


Because this situation involves age, pension income, health needs, and a large lump sum, speaking with a licensed financial adviser may help when deciding whether contributing to super is appropriate.

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Most helpful reply

KaraATO(Community Support)Community Support
18 Mar 2026

Hi @PedroS,


A super fund can accept personal contributions for people under age 75. This means a 67-year-old can open a super account, even without a work history.


For people aged 67 to 74, the work test (or work test exemption) only applies if a tax deduction is being claimed for a personal super contribution. The work test requires 40 hours of work in a 30day period during the financial year.


Nonconcessional (aftertax) contributions can still be made without meeting the work test, subject to contribution caps. Once money is in super, the normal preservation rules apply. From age 65, a condition of release is generally met, so funds can be accessed.


Because this situation involves age, pension income, health needs, and a large lump sum, speaking with a licensed financial adviser may help when deciding whether contributing to super is appropriate.

18 Mar 2026

If she sets up a super account and contributes the full $230,000 as non-concessional contributions and then switches it to pension mode, then the interest on the money will be tax free. Currently with a base income of $39,000 from the UN pension - as a very very broad estimate she will be paying 16% on the first $6,000 of the interest income and 30% on the rest.


An added benefit of having it in super is that for aged pension purposes (I assume she is able to qualify for a small amount of aged pension based on those income and asset levels?) the income assessed by Centrelink for aged pension purposes is lower when its in a super fund than the actual income it generates, so she will likely get a little bit more aged pension each fortnight. If the money is outside super, the actual amount earned is included as income for aged pension purposes (so $210 per week). But if the money is in a super account, they use the deeming rules which mean that the first $64,200 has the deemed rate of 0.75% applied and everything over that is deemed to earn 2.75% interest. So on the basis that the $230,000 is her only financial asset, then the deemed income would be $97 a week. So that could be an extra $55 in aged pension each week - not huge but not insignificant either.


But I would suggest you speak to a financial advisor on this. If that's too expensive, then you could setup a super fund and ask them if you can speak to their financial advisor as most super funds offer a free appointment with a financial advisor for this purpose.

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Should I set up a superannuation fund at the age of 67? | ATO Community