It’s now been six months since Retirement Essentials launched in Australia and we’ve been amazed and humbled by the response we’ve received. We’ve clearly hit on something – the Age Pension is a real ‘hot button’ for everyday Australian seniors, both those already in retirement as well as those planning for it. The Age Pension rules are complex and we’ve seen evidence of this with many seniors seeking our help to understand how the Age Pension works and what they are entitled to.
So far Retirement Essentials has received,
- more than 25,000 visits to our website which means more people now have access to information about the Age Pension and how the application process works
- more than 30,000 seniors testing their Age Pension Eligibility using our calculator
- positive media coverage in the Australian Financial Review, Sky News and other media outlets
This is a great start, but it’s only the beginning. Our mission is to make financial advice more affordable and accessible for senior Australians. We are always striving to improve our services based on the valued feedback our members share with us. I am delighted to announce that today we have launched a number of significant improvements to our Age Pension Eligibility Calculator:
- We’ve simplified the questions, making it even easier and quicker for seniors to calculate their entitlements;
- Our Age Pension Calculator is now easily accessible on mobile phones; and
- We now provide Age Pension estimates for those not yet of Age Pension age (currently you need to be 65 ½ years old to be eligible).
Our calculator now helps these seniors understand both when they will be eligible and what they might be entitled to at that time. (note: our calculator assumes that the current Centrelink rules and the members circumstances remain the same). This feature is particularly relevant as we’ve had thousands of people seeking to understand what they might be eligible for in the future, as they start planning for retirement.
Beyond being able to help seniors by estimating their Age Pension entitlements we also help them via our Age Pension Application Service. To explain our service we’ve produced a short animation video which explains what Retirement Essentials does and how our Age Pension Application service helps everyday seniors avoid the frustration often experienced when applying.
I am proud of what we’ve achieved so far but even more excited by the potential of our current development initiatives to help even more everyday Australian seniors. We’ve listened to their feedback and our team is working hard to make our Age Pension Application Service even easier to use. I look forward to updating you again in a few weeks.
To access our Age Pension Calculator, you can go to this link
Regards, Paul
