James Coyle

James has over 35 years experience in financial services with particular expertise in two of the key components of retirement finance - Superannuation and the Age Pension. He is passionate about providing the guidance and support that can help older Australians enjoy their best possible retirement. He lives in regional Victoria surrounded by dogs and chooks.
Keeping Centrelink up-to-date

Keeping Centrelink up-to-date

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Ever since the Robodebt debacle many of our readers have been understandably anxious about what they do, and don’t, need to tell Centrelink.  There are times when you must tell Centrelink and times when you don’t have to, but it’s in your best interest to tell Centrelink quickly.  A great example of this is spending money on a renovation to your home.  In this situation you spend an assessable asset (money in the bank) and add value to a non-assessable one (your home).  This could improve your eligibility situation and the amount of your Age Pension payments so it’s a good idea to let Centrelink know quickly. 

Advising Centrelink can be quite a minefield and it’s easy to both over and under report.  So we asked our resident expert, Steven Sadler, for his tips on what you must, or should, let Centrelink know. Here’s Steven’s checklist.

Assets test explained

Assets test explained

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In our recent article on the fairness of the Age Pension we received a few questions as to why the family home was listed in the comparison between three different retirement households. 

These questions highlighted the need for clearer explanations of retirement assets and the Age Pension asset test. Today we share a plain English explainer.

What are assets?

Put simply, an asset is something that you own. This might be land, a house, a car, a painting or some shares. Some assets are tangible, whilst financial assets including bank deposits, superannuation and shares are less so. 

Why do your assets matter so much in retirement?

The more you own, the more wealth you can draw upon in retirement. Some of your assets may form a retirement income stream (for instance, your super may be rolled into an Account-Based Pension and you will be paid regularly from this account). Other assets may be able to be sold (either wholly or partly) for cash injections.

How fair is the Age Pension?

How fair is the Age Pension?

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With just on two thirds of retirees receiving an Age Pension from age 67 onwards, this benefit remains the main form of income for older Australians. As the super system matures, the amount of ‘top-up’ provided by super is increasing, but the core funding of retirement remains the Australian Government Age Pension.

Today we question how fair the pension actually is. It seems that the somewhat complex income and assets test which was designed to promote equity may be working against certain retirees. 

Let’s start with the detail of what different groups receive, using the full Age Pension for these comparisons.

Here is the way singles and couples are treated. The full single amount is $29,754 per annum and couples will receive $44,855 combined.