We are a diverse lot in Australia and there will be lots of opinions about what the Treasurer should include in the Federal budget. While we don’t have any inside knowledge we do hear from a lot of our customers and colleagues in the industry. So what are some of the...
Centrelink have announced changes to the Age Pension payment rates and also to the income and asset thresholds. This means more money in the pockets of Australian Seniors. So what are the changes? Pension Rates The full Age Pension rate for a single person,...
The Age Pension gets better Some things just get better with age. Some cheeses, great Australian red wines, and the Age Pension. How’s that, you ask More people are eligible at older ages. And many people move to a higher Age Pension as they age and spend down their...
One of the things I like about Noel Whittaker’s latest book, Retirement Made Simple, is his description of retirement as a journey. “I think journey is the perfect word,” he says, “because it has the connotations of a desired destination and all sorts of adventures...
Three weeks ago we asked our readers “What advice would you give to others nearing or in retirement?”. Thank you all so much for your contributions. We will share some with you today and over the forthcoming weeks. Have a plan to keep active and engaged For many,...
The third in our series on the Government’s Retirement Income Review Home ownership gives retirees a big leg up in retirement, according to the government’s recently released Retirement Income Review. Retiree households who own their home face lower housing costs. ...
Last September, for the first time since 1997, Age Pensioners didn’t receive an increase in their pension rates. The reason for this was that both inflation (CPI) and the Pensioner and Beneficiary Living Cost Index (PBLCI) were negative. One of the reasons inflation...
More insights from the Government’s Retirement Income Review Everyone’s different in retirement. And how much you need is really a question to be decided personally. But we’ve all got a bit of “sticky-beak” streak and are interested in what others think they need. ...
“Start with the facts.” That was the motto of the government’s recently released review of the Australian retirement system. Don’t come up with policy recommendations; just give us the fact base to think about. A lot of the news media coverage of the review has...
The inventor of weather forecasting, Admiral Robert FitzRoy, was motivated by the desire to stop shipwrecks off the coast of Britain. He established the first weather bureau in 1854….but was mocked for his forecasts and eventually took his own life in the 1860s. ...
