One of the simplest ways of increasing retirement income can also be one of the most difficult. This is because the strategies – maximising entitlements – come with so many complex rules that many retirees are currently underpaid in retirement. And this does...
Centrelink is pursuing overpayments again As we reported in December 2021, Services Australia granted welfare recipients, including Age Pensioners, a debt reprieve until January 2022. The Minister, Linda Reynolds, stated at the time that debt recovery...
It’s easy to become confused when trying to understand how your assets might affect your retirement income. Are they personal assets? Assessable assets? Or deemable assets? There are many ways of defining assets, and there can be a lot at stake if you...
The Australian Age Pension is reviewed, or indexed, twice a year, with payments adjusted on March 20 and September 20. A small increase is usually made to both the Maximum Benefit Rate (base rate of the Age Pension) as well as the Age Pension supplement...
The Age Pension is often thought of as a single payment, but in fact there are two, sometimes three payments that combine to create this fortnightly income stream. These are called supplements and they are a regular extra payment for utility, phone, internet...
Explaining retirement lump sums and how they work is not nearly as simple as it sounds. Yes, there is a straightforward definition from the Australian Tax Office (ATO) – a lump-sum is an amount paid all at once, as opposed to an amount that is divvied up and...
We chatted to one of our customers, Tim Bridge (66-year-old retiree from Glendale NSW) and his wife, Bronwyn about their experience applying for the Age Pension. Here is Tim’s story. “We thought it was a complete ‘no-go’. We thought we were not eligible...
How does this retirement income stream work? An Account-based Pension is often also referred to as an Allocated Pension. It is a regular income stream which is drawn down from the savings you have accumulated in your superannuation fund. This drawdown (or...
The great retirement trade-off The start of a new year is often the time when we plan to make changes to our homes – to buy, sell or renovate. Renovating was almost a national pastime this past year when Covid forced more of us to spend more time at home, up...