by James Coyle | Oct 24, 2024 | Centrelink Age Pension
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, but...
by Jeremy Duffield | Oct 17, 2024 | Retirement Advice
It’s simpler than you think Can you find the acres of diamonds in your own backyard? About 150 years ago, a famous American author and orator began touring the country with a speech called Acres of Diamonds, which enthralled huge audiences. Russell Conwell gave...
by James Coyle | Oct 17, 2024 | Planning for Retirement
Discount and concession cards Most of us love a discount. And when the cost of living is persistently high, concession cards are worth their weight in gold. There are a range of discount and concession cards available to older Australians. But the rules change all too...
by Kaye Fallick | Oct 17, 2024 | Centrelink Age Pension
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 income...
by James Coyle | Oct 11, 2024 | Centrelink Age Pension
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 for clearer...
by Amanda Hardy Lai | Oct 11, 2024 | Retirement Advice
What’s important to you? Hi, I’m Amanda – one of the financial advisers at Retirement Essentials, and I’m here to make sense of what can sometimes feel like a whirlwind of financial decisions in retirement. I understand that money can be a complicated and...
by Kaye Fallick | Oct 10, 2024 | Retirement Advice
Most of us are really squeamish about the word ‘death’ – we run a mile from it. Similarly with the term ‘funeral’ – it’s difficult to bring ourselves to read articles about planning for our own demise. We’re more interested in living, than dying, right? But there is a...
by Jeremy Duffield | Oct 2, 2024 | Planning for Retirement
Transitioning to Retirement – something completely different Life’s about transitions….and retirement has got to be one of the biggest transitions of them all. It’s so different from working life, such an opportunity to do what you’ve dreamed about, albeit...
by Kaye Fallick | Oct 2, 2024 | Centrelink Age Pension
Minimum pension withdrawals are a fairly straightforward aspect of moving from the saving to spending phase of retirement. Or they should be. But in recent adviser consultations, Retirement Essentials members have revealed a degree of concern and confusion about what...
by James Coyle | Oct 2, 2024 | Centrelink Age Pension
A tale of three retirements With just on two thirds of retirees receiving an Age Pension from age 67 onwards, this benefit remains the main form of income for older Australians. As the super system matures, the amount of ‘top-up’ provided by super is increasing,...
