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.
Age Pension and deeming changes on 20 September 2025

Age Pension and deeming changes on 20 September 2025

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On Tuesday 19 August the Minister for Social Services, Tanya Plibersek, announced significant changes to Age Pension payments and deeming rates. These changes are due to come into effect on 20 September this year.

The base rate of the Age Pension will increase for both singles and couples, as does the pension supplement.

Part-Age Pension income and asset cut-off limits will also increase.

But the biggest news is the first change to deeming rates since they were frozen more than five years ago by the Morrison Government. This freeze was brought in to help retirees faced with the challenge of rapid cost of living increases in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But now these deeming rates will rise for both singles and couples and this will mean that some Australians may even lose their pension entitlements.

Says Minister Plibersek:

Thanks to indexation, millions of Aussies will receive a boost to their payment to help them cover everyday costs like groceries and healthcare. The government wants to help take the pressure off when it comes to cost of living.

While the Social Services Minister highlights the modest uplift in Age Pension payments many will receive due to indexation, has the government simply given with one hand and taken away with another depending upon your assessment?

Retirement Essentials adviser, Nicole Bell, has modelled the way deeming changes might affect two different retirement situations; Mary, a single who is receiving the full Age Pension and Neil who is planning to downsize.

Five things self-funded retirees need to know

Five things self-funded retirees need to know

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Approximately 65% of Australians will start their retirement journey at least partly supported by the government Age Pension. The remaining 35% are usually referred to as self-funded retirees, meaning that they are covering their retirement with their own savings, superannuation, share or property investments. They are totally self-sufficient.

But the name ‘self-funded retiree’ can be misleading as it is often conflated with ‘high net worth individuals’ which can bring on a debate about tax concessions on super, franking credits, intergenerational wealth – even the so-called ‘greediness’ of the boomer generation. 

These allegations are far from accurate – merely a cliched way to refer to a large cohort of older Australians who often have very little in common, including their net wealth. A recent example of this debate is the ‘argy-bargy’ about the proposed additional 15% tax on super balances over $3-million. It’s easy to believe that this amount is the common balance for those who are self-funded. It’s not – it’s way above the reality for most people. Fewer than half of one per cent of retirees (80,000) will be affected by the new $3-million threshold. Most other self-funded retirees typically have super and investment assets worth about one third of this amount. They, too, need to plan ahead and make informed choices to live the retirement they envisage. Today we shine a light on the five most important actions which can help self-funded retirees to ensure they enjoy the retirement that they have saved for.

Retirement sums made easy: What’s your optimal number?

Retirement sums made easy: What’s your optimal number?

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Steve has a very clear vision of his ideal retirement. A divorced 65-year old with a modest home and $75,000 mortgage, he has no difficulty articulating what life will be like when he leaves full time work. He wants to volunteer, work part-time as a mechanic and enjoy some weekends away with friends from his local Rotary club.

But what eludes him is the magic number that he needs to have saved to ensure he can achieve these plans within a couple of years. And not spend decades worrying about whether his savings will run out.

Funnily enough, there’s just one number that can help Steve to understand the longevity of his money. And that’s his own likely lifespan. Here’s how a few simple sums, based on Steve’s likely longevity, were able to set his mind at rest.

Because Steve is a member of Retirement Essentials he has access to the member portal where he can use all calculators for free. First up we encouraged him to do his own initial research by using the Retirement Essentials Life Expectancy calculator which is in the retirement planning section of the members’ portal. This simple tool requires just three things:  your birthdate, relationship status and gender.