We enjoy receiving member questions for a range of reasons. The main one is because our whole team wants to help Australians maximise their retirement income and answering tricky questions is one way of doing this. But another reason why we value the...
Centrelink Age Pension Articles
Making Centrelink work for you
You may recall our article in December which shared tips from Steven Sadler? We asked him what works best when dealing with Centrelink and he responded with some really useful insights into how to progress your Centrelink interactions, including the best...
Maria is getting an inheritance. But will she lose her pension?
Australian society is witnessing the greatest intergenerational transfer of wealth ever seen. According to McCrindle Research, an estimated $3 trillion will be bequeathed to adult children over the next two decades. We don’t all have parents like the driven,...
Work Bonus update: How much you can earn on an Age Pension
By the time you read this newsletter new Work Bonus rules will be in place. Will you benefit from this? And if so what does this mean for your entitlements? Today we have a handy facts sheet on rules about income limits including employment earnings. The way...
How Centrelink expertise can help you
Meet Steven Sadler We call Steven our Retirement Essentials’ Guru for many reasons. We recently interviewed him so you can understand why he got this name. It’s the first of four interviews with our advisers Megan, Nicole and Sharon and Steven, who is Head...
Age Pension explained: All the basics you need to know
The Age Pension remains the backbone of Australia’s retirement income system. It was first legislated in 1908 when life expectancy for men exceeded the pension age of 65. Women were only added to these entitlements two years later, but could qualify...
Save on energy with higher Age Pension payments
If you are worried about the effect rising energy prices are having on your household budget, you’re not alone. Research from the Energy Consumers Australia confirms that a majority of Australians (56%) believe energy will be unaffordable within three years....
Centrelink 2023 holiday reporting and payment dates
Everything you need to know You may be one of the 70% of older Australians who receives a full or part Age Pension or a DVA payment. If so, here’s a handy summary of Centrelink availability over the coming Christmas and New Year holiday period, with all...
Age Pension mythbuster: Where will you end up?
This past week, a casual conversation with adviser, Megan Marshal, totally nailed the difficulty of managing retirement income. ‘Understanding the rules is the hardest thing for most people’, Megan said, ‘Particularly making connections between the...