Last week we talked about the role of the Age Pension as the foundation of most Australians’ retirement plans - even for those who are not eligible when they first retire. But most people would like a higher income in retirement than the Age Pension...

Thanks for your interest in Retirement Essentials. It’s been a challenging year, hasn’t it? With Covid 19 lingering and varying and forcing us into short or prolonged lockdowns.  I’m sure it’s brought its difficulties for you, just as it has for me here...

When it comes to applying for the Age Pension many of our members have asked us questions like: “Do I apply as a single or as a couple?”, “What if my partner is younger than me, do I have to wait?”, “Why does Centrelink ask such personal questions about my...

What are deeming rates? The way they work is that Centrelink determines that your financial assets are deemed to earn a certain rate of return, regardless of what they actually earn. This return is used to assess your eligibility for entitlements such as the...

Centrelink have announced changes to Age Pension income and asset thresholds.  This could mean more Australians will now qualify for at least a part pension and those already on a part pension could receive more. A couple of weeks ago we wrote about what a...

We hear of many people that don’t apply for the age pension because they don’t think it is worth it. “I’ll probably only get a few dollars so it’s not worth the effort” is a common refrain. What many people don’t consider are all the fantastic benefits you...

The Pension Loan Scheme (PLS) was enhanced in the budget last week.  Many of our readers have asked that we tell them a bit more about how this works.  So what is it? The Pension Loan Scheme allows people to top up to an amount of up to 150 per...

The 2021 Federal Budget The 2021 Federal budget has promised a number of funding increases to help boost the economy.  Several of the initiatives will benefit senior Australians by providing better access to support services and also enabling many to top up...

We are a diverse lot in Australia and there will be lots of opinions about what the Treasurer should include in the Federal budget. While we don’t have any inside knowledge we do hear from a lot of our customers and colleagues in the industry. So what are...