Retirement can be a time of uncertainty for many people when it comes to managing their finances. As we age, our financial needs can change. However, there is one benefit that becomes increasingly valuable as we age, and that’s the Age Pension. The Age...
Federal Budget 2023-2024: What we’d like to see Our goal at Retirement Essentials is simple. It is to help all older Australians to enjoy their best possible retirement. This we do by providing financial guidance and support when it comes to managing your...
Income benefit: Claim your credit before it expires A popular recent article explained how changes to income thresholds now mean that a couple who hadn’t yet retired could now be eligible for an Age Pension owing to threshold changes. And that, along with...
What Centrelink can do And what it can’t Recent reports on Centrelink surveillance of clients have rung alarm bells. It’s easy, as a recipient of government benefits, to feel powerless in the face of a large bureaucracy. You are not powerless. In fact, as...
What you don’t know … … might be hurting your finances We’re always seeking insights into ways to help our members maximise their retirement savings and income. But what you don't know might be hurting your finances. What often comes up in advice...
Means testing just got simpler: Here’s how it works The application of the Age Pension means test to your income or assets means the difference between a higher or lower pension payment – or whether you receive one at all. We know the very term ‘taper rates’...
Should your home… …be exempt from the assets test? It’s no surprise that just over three-quarters of retirees own their own homes; traditionally Australians have had a love affair with home ownership. What is surprising is that the value of the home in...
A recent popular article on the way asset test changes mean more older Australians are now eligible for the Age Pension provoked a lot of interest. Today we look at the other side of the equation – the March 20 changes to the incomes test thresholds. When...
Single versus couple pension payments: Are they fair? When there is a widely experienced cost of living crisis, it’s only natural to have concerns about whether your income is keeping up with the increases. It’s also fair to ask, as a single or couple...