The Morrison Government has recently urged retirees to spend more of their retirement savings, particularly any super they might have. Why do they want retirees to spend their super? The Government’s recent Retirement Income Review highlighted that many retirees...
By Dr Deborah Ralston* The 2020 Retirement Income Review examined the three pillars of the Australian retirement system – the age pension, compulsory superannuation and voluntary savings – and concluded that: The home is the most important component of voluntary...
The recent Retirement Income Review* examined all aspects of Australia’s retirement system and concluded that it provides well for the needs of the vast majority older Australians, but it is complex and not well understood. In particular, there is a real lack of...
What are deeming rates? The way they work is that Centrelink determines that your financial assets are deemed to earn a certain rate of return, regardless of what they actually earn. This return is used to assess your eligibility for entitlements such as the Age...
Centrelink have announced changes to Age Pension income and asset thresholds. This could mean more Australians will now qualify for at least a part pension and those already on a part pension could receive more. A couple of weeks ago we wrote about what a difference...
We hear of many people that don’t apply for the age pension because they don’t think it is worth it. “I’ll probably only get a few dollars so it’s not worth the effort” is a common refrain. What many people don’t consider are all the fantastic benefits you receive...
We sometimes get asked by our readers whether there is anything they can do before the end of the financial year to improve their income in retirement. Here are a couple that relate to superannuation. Adding money to super Some people might be in a position to add...
One in five of the people we see still have a mortgage on their home. Many of them also have money in the bank, super or some other investments. For part pensioners this can sometimes be costly. This is because most part pensioners, and those that aren’t eligible...
The Pension Loan Scheme (PLS) was enhanced in the budget last week. Many of our readers have asked that we tell them a bit more about how this works. So what is it? The Pension Loan Scheme allows people to top up to an amount of up to 150 per cent – or 1.5 times –...
The 2021 Federal Budget The 2021 Federal budget has promised a number of funding increases to help boost the economy. Several of the initiatives will benefit senior Australians by providing better access to support services and also enabling many to top up their...
