Centrelink Age Pension Articles

Is the Age Pension fair?

Is the Age Pension fair?

 Is the Age Pension fair? Do the rules work for you? What seems fair to one person may seem the opposite to someone else. So when the national government is the major source of retirement income for those aged over 66 there are often varying perceptions...

Energy rebates update

Energy rebates update

Energy Rebates update: How they will be applied? Two weeks ago we reported on the new Energy Rebates for retirees. At the time, they had yet to pass both houses of Parliament, but this has now happened. Whilst we loved being thanked for this information by...

Advice: how we’ve helped in 2022

Advice: how we’ve helped in 2022

How we’ve helped in 2022: Reassurance, income and health prioritised At this time of the year our thoughts often turn to giving. So this week we asked our frontline team – Nicole, Sharon and Steven – if they would take time out to share how they believe they...

Income and Assets test refresher

Income and Assets test refresher

With seven out of 10 older Australians currently on an Age Pension you would think the rules would be relatively easy to understand. Unfortunately complexity is a feature of our retirement income system - another feature is the frequency of changes to rules...

The top five Centrelink FAQs

The top five Centrelink FAQs

And answers for 2022 With over 100,000 members who are at or near retirement, the Retirement Essentials’ Customer Service Team answers a LOT of questions on a weekly basis. Given that nearly 70% of Australians are on a full or part Age Pension, many are...

Energy rebates for retirees…

Energy rebates for retirees…

Late last week the Albanese Government and state and territory premiers agreed upon an energy price relief package to curtail rocketing electricity and gas prices for Australian consumers. Such price rises are an ongoing sore point for many Australian...

Christmas and Centrelink

Christmas and Centrelink

What you need to know Are you one of the three-quarters of senior Australians who receives a full or part Age Pension payment? If so, it will help to know Centrelink availability, payment and reporting dates over the coming Christmas and New Year holiday...

Max needs more time

Max needs more time

And the winner is: Max who needs more time We’ve been delighted with the volume and depth of responses to the inaugural Retirement Essentials Retirement Pulse survey, launched in October. You may recall we asked you to share the issue or question you would...

Work Bonus extension

Work Bonus extension

The work bonus enables you to earn extra for longer Financial adviser Nicole reports that how much you can earn is one of the major concerns in her consultations with Retirement Essentials members. The rules are confusing and they are about to change again....