Kaye Fallick

Kaye is a retirement commentator and coach, with 25 years’ experience writing about retirement income. She has authored two books on life stage changes – Get a New Life and What Next? – and enjoys regular radio and podcast appearances. Her favourite mission is to offer plain English explanations of complex rules so that all retirees can benefit. She is based in Melbourne but enjoys escaping to Italy whenever possible.
Election 2025: Which issues matter most

Election 2025: Which issues matter most

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As we reach the ‘business end’ of the 2025 Federal Election campaign, you may have a clear idea who you wish to vote for and why. Yet that’s not the case for everyone, with The Guardian suggesting that nearly 47% of Australian voters remain undecided or open to changing their vote. Some voters will not decide until they enter the polling booth on 3 May. Whether you have a clear idea of the party that deserves your support, or you are still shopping around, as we have done in the past, Retirement Essentials has compiled a brief summary of each of the three major parties’ promises that most affect older Australians.

What’s not in this summary are the policies of the minor parties, such as One Nation and the Trumpet of Patriots. Similarly, there is no summary of the position of individual teal candidates as they are not a party and hold different views on many of the main issues. The information on these candidates is readily available on their websites and will no doubt be coming through your letterbox as we speak.

Retirement Essentials is also not offering an opinion on the policies of any of the parties, nor a view on who should win your support. Our democracy thrives based upon the assumption that each individual is capable of reaching a reasonable conclusion and voting however they want.

It’s also worth noting that whilst the following table shows a comparison of the promises as they relate to older Australians, many retirees are vitally interested in positive outcomes for all ages and so they will vote on policies that help their younger family members and friends.

Updating Centrelink: When assets go down

Updating Centrelink: When assets go down

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As evidenced in the strategy suggested by Andrew Dunkerley for June and Marcus, a downturn in assets is not 100% negative for those receiving Age Pension entitlements. Andrew projected the result of the decline in the couple’s assets would lead to a boost of more than $3,000 in Age Pension benefits per annum. How so? Because anyone receiving the Age Pension will be assessed using a means test and their assets are deemed to earn income. By keeping Centrelink updated if your assets fall lower, it is likely you will be rewarded with a higher fortnightly payment.

Need to know

Higher income is appealing, but there are a couple of caveats here.

Some members will need to report changes to super which is in accumulation mode, others will have their money in an Account-Based Pension (ABP), others in private investments (local and global shares) and still others in a Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF). Reporting requirements can vary depending upon where your assets are held. 

As noted by Steven Sadler, Head of the Customer Service Team, the documents required may vary, so it might be easier to contact our entitlements team for an explanation. If you have an ABP it’s relatively simple – you will need to request an updated schedule. But if your fund is in accumulation it is much trickier because Centrelink needs to see the units of the accumulation account, not just the total balance. 

And don’t forget, the obligation to inform Centrelink of meaningful (above $2000) asset changes goes both ways. Should your assets rise again you will need to advise Centrelink. If you don’t, then when Centrelink becomes aware of the higher balance, you risk having a debt raised against you for previous overpayments.

Further information

We have previously covered the details of what you need to do to keep Centrelink up to date. Here are two recent articles which explain the ‘what’ you need to do and the second, detailing the ‘how’ you go about doing this.