When an entitlement such as the Age Pension has been in place for more than a century, it’s tempting to assume that the rules are well-known and easy to follow. Not so, unfortunately. Every day the Retirement Essentials Customer Services Team hears from...
A majority of Australians highly value the concept of a guaranteed income for life. It’s easy to forget that the Age Pension provides such a safety net, initially for the 65% of those who reach Age Pension eligibility age of 67. And further down the track to...
The income test forms a major part of your likelihood of receiving an Age Pension. That’s well-known and the thresholds are quite clear. Which income is included and which is excluded can be more complex, which is why we covered this topic in some detail in...
There is a very common mistake that adviser, Sharon Sheehan, has noticed. So many members are confused by the term ‘superannuation account’. Recent research from AMP confirms that 70 % of older Australians don’t know what an Account-Based Pension is. Given...
In mid-October we reported on the second part of the Means Test – how Centrelink assesses income. In this update we explained how the income test works, what is ‘earned’ income and what is deemed. We then asked you to share any aspects of the income test...
Is this assessable? Two weeks ago we explained how the assets test works and how different assets can be treated very differently by Centrelink. At the end of this article, we asked if you find these rules confusing and you certainly answered – in the 70...
All the rules you need to know 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,...
Last week we went back to basics by explaining how the assets test works. This week we share the ‘second-part’ of this important retirement income update – an explanation of the way the income test is used to assess Age Pension eligibility. What is the...
How the rules work for you 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...