News and Articles

Your superannuation strategy doesn’t end when you begin drawing your savings in an Account-Based Pension. It’s common for retirees to keep accumulating super through part-time work or lump sum contributions from windfalls like property sales or inheritance.  And while most super contributions can be made until age 75, not everyone knows that once you start an Account-Based Pension (ABP), you can’t contribute to it anymore. But what if you could still roll your ABP back into super, combine it with new contributions, and create an even more flexible strategy? Here’s how to make the most of your super by combining your existing ABP balance with new super contributions.

Welcome to Retirement Essentials annual affordable travel guide. This year we have again approached the experts for their insider tips on how to get maximum bang for your buck when you travel in 2025. We’ve left the group touring and cruising adventures aside, in favour of local experiences with hostel accommodation and holiday parks front and centre. We’ve also sought the expertise of Amy Gardener from the Seniors in Melbourne website for her insights into affordable city adventures. And for those who love road trips, we asked author and motoring expert, Lee Atkinson, how to make road trips more affordable – and unforgettable. We hope there is something for everyone in this bumper travel guide – and invite your feedback and tips so that other members of Retirement Essentials can benefit from your experience.

Don’t forget, your Pension Concession Card, your Commonwealth Seniors Health Card and your state or territory-based Seniors Card can reward you with discounts and lower transport costs right across Australia.

As 2025 arrives, there are several significant changes coming that could affect your retirement planning and superannuation strategy. Understanding exactly what these changes mean in your particular situation helps you stay ahead.

1. Super Guarantee rate increases to 12% (starting 1 July 2025)

The Super Guarantee (SG) rate will increase to 12% on 1 July 2025, meaning employers will contribute more to your superannuation. This change will increase your retirement savings, especially if you are still working or nearing retirement.

Before (11.5% SG Rate): Annual salary of $60,000, with employer’s super contribution of $6,900 (11.5% of $60,000) per annum.

After (12% SG Rate): Annual salary of $60,000, with employer’s super contribution of $7,200 (12% of $60,000) per annum.

The increase of 0.5% will add an extra $300 to the superannuation contribution annually.

2. Legacy Pensions: New flexibility for older income streams  

From 7 December 2024, holders of legacy pensions (those started before 20 September 2007) will have five years to commute their pension to a more flexible Account-Based pension (ABP), accumulation account, or cash. This will give retirees with older pension products more flexibility to adjust their arrangements to meet current needs.

Learn more about this change.

3. Government-funded parental leave

From 1 July 2025, superannuation will be paid on government-funded Parental Leave Pay, with contributions calculated at 12% of the payment. Eligible parents will receive these contributions as a lump sum, including interest, after the financial year ends. 

Applications for Parental Leave Pay will remain with Services Australia, while the ATO will manage super payments starting July 2026. This change aims to boost retirement savings for parents and is part of the government’s Working for Women strategy.

What you need to know As we head into a new year, there’s that wonderful sense of optimism and opportunity. This often means the chance to do things differently, to make the changes we believe might make our lives better, in whatever way matters most. At Retirement...

In late November we shared the Australian Government’s announcement of new reforms for the retirement phase of super . Since then, on 7 December, another major change to retirement income has been announced. This time it’s an attempt to increase access to quality, affordable advice at the time of need for 4+ million retirees and 2.5 million pre-retirees. 

Before we go into the specific changes involved, here are the two main reasons people come to Retirement Essentials to get exactly this type of timely, manageable advice:

They have done their homework, have a good idea of their likely sources of income and are seeking external reassurance that they haven’t overlooked anything, missed any important rules and that the timing is right.

OR

They realise that they need to address their retirement planning or retirement income management but don’t know how to get started. They suspect that they ‘don’t know what they don’t know’ and are seeking a basic understanding and some first steps to get things underway.

These two types of needs are very different – and that is just one of the reasons why Retirement Essentials advisers don’t treat all customers with the same ‘one size fits all’ solutions. Retirement Essentials welcomes the Federal Government’s attempts to simplify the advice process, but, in fact, this is a service we already offer. It’s also interesting to note industry spokespeople welcoming the notion of $900 advice consultations. That’s because we know that our popular 55-minute single-issue consultations are usually sufficient to give our customers both peace of mind and the information that they need to make their own best decisions.

Qualifying for an Age Pension is a process most Australians will experience at some stage in their retirement. Timing your application and knowing how back pay works is super handy to avoid missing out on much-needed income. Today Steven Sadler steps us through the rules.

The main rule is that the Age Pension is backdated to either the day you lodged your application or the day you became eligible, whichever is the more recent of the two. Here’s how it works.

Christmas is a magical time of the year, but between the joy of giving and taking that much-needed holiday break, it’s easy to overspend. With higher interest rates stuck for the whole year and a higher cost of living, the New Year could bring a financial hangover. But it doesn’t have to be that way. With some planning and the right tools, you can protect your income this holiday season without sacrificing the festive cheer.

The view of the RBA is that the underlying inflation rate of 3.5% (over the year to September) remains too far above the 2.5% target, and the outlook is that it could be some time in 2026 before it’s likely to approach that level. Returning inflation to target range remains the RBA’s major priority.

If you’re one of the majority of retirees who receives a full or part Age Pension or a DVA payment, you’ll be keen to know Centrelink service options over the holiday break.

When an entitlement such as the Age Pension has been in place for more than a century, it’s tempting to assume that the rules are well-known and easy to follow. Not so, unfortunately. Every day the Retirement Essentials Customer Services Team hears from retirees who either didn’t know about rules or didn’t thoroughly understand them, much to their financial detriment.

As you know the team at Retirement Essentials is dedicated to helping to make things as easy as possible for those who are planning for or living in retirement. Today we share a summary of five aspects of Age Pension eligibility that continue to confound applicants and result in lower fortnightly payments. These mistakes run the gamut from timing, reporting, complexity of the means test and partner rules to how to value your assets.

More than one fifth of Australian retirees currently live in poverty, according to a recent report by The Australia Institute.

Given that we are one of the richest nations in the world this is both disturbing and difficult to believe. Today we review these findings and consider if there is cause for concern and, if so, what retirees can do.