"Could you imagine the backlash and the media circus if the "old...

"Could you imagine the backlash and the media circus if the "old widow" who recently lost her husband was made to liquidate her assets to provide herself with an income stream?"

dayz, I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 'liquidate her assets'?
If she is living in, say, a home worth $2m but with cash etc assets of around $200K, she's probably going to be entitled to a full age pension, isn't she?
(eg $200K at 3.5% deeming = $7000)

So, if it means a lot to her to stay in the home (which is probably actually too big for her in old age anyway), and if the government were to include in the assets test that proportion of the family home which is over, say, $1m, why can't she stay there and take out a reverse mortgage to provide sufficient income stream to supplement her $7000?

It seems morally wrong to me that a young family earning not enough to allow them to save a deposit for their own home should see their taxes going to support someone in the above position.

Ditto the young people who are facing six month stand down periods for support must find such extraordinary generosity toward the old pretty hard to understand.