Retirees who have saved enough for a modest retirement are hit hard, despite the claims of fairness.
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But Treasurer Joe Hockey confirmed there will be "no new taxes on superannuation under this government". That is despite the tax concessions costing the budget almost as much as the age pension. The government has said that the tax concessions need to stay to encourage more people to become self funded in retirement.
The budget confirms that couples with assets below $451,500, not counting the family home, will receive a boost to their fortnightly pension of $30, on average. This includes the 50,000 part pensioners who, for the first time, will receive the full pension from January 1, 2017.
However, those retirees with assets, excluding the family home, of more than $823,000 will lose the pension altogether. This maximum asset threshold for getting any pension payment is down from $1.15 million now.
The budget also dumped the measure from last year's budget to change the way the age pension was to be indexed.
The proposed change to indexation would have disadvantaged full rate pensioners over time. Over a ten-year period, the pension would have been between $51 and $85 less than it otherwise would have reached if the indexation change had gone ahead.
About 91,000 of those on a part-age pension will lose access to the pension altogether. And a further 235,000 will receive a smaller part-age pension.
However, the change to the "taper rate" means that even those with fairly modest assets will be squeezed.
This is the rate at which the pension reduces for every $1000 in additional assets over the lower threshold of $286,000 to be lifted to $375,000.
The Howard-Costello 2006 budget relaxed the taper rates, which allowed wealthier retirees to pick up a part pension and the pensioner discounts.
The government is returning the taper rate to its pre-Howard rate, where the fortnightly full-age pension payment reduces by $3 instead of the current $1.50 for each additional $1,000 of assets.
But many retirees who see the new maximum $823,000 threshold after which the pension cuts out altogether may be shocked to find that even with fairly modest savings their pension will be significantly reduced.
For example, a home-owning couple with assets of $500,000 will lose $1,892 a year of age pension. Half-a-million dollars will no longer be enough for a reasonable retirement.
The loss in pension of $13,592 for a home-owning couple with assets of $800,000 is almost double what a millionaire pensioner couple will lose.
The biggest losers among single home-owners are those with assets of $547,000 who lose $10,042 in annual pension income.
As a sweetener to those who will lose their pension, they will be guaranteed eligibility for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC), which provides the same concessional access to pharmaceuticals as those on the pension.
However, the CSHC is not as generous as the pensioner concession card. As well as the cheaper medicines and bulk billing for doctor's appointments the pensioner concession card provides a range of discounts from state and territory governments.
They are different in each state and territory and local council but usually bring reductions on property and water rates, reductions on energy bills, reduced fares on public transport, reductions on motor vehicle registration and free rail journeys.
