by Kaye Fallick | Jun 27, 2024 | Centrelink Age Pension
Here are the facts The good news about Centrelink is that, as an agency of Services Australia, it is held accountable. The mechanism by which this occurs is through frequent Senate Estimates Committees which scrutinise Centrelink performance and its key indicators....
by Kaye Fallick | Jun 27, 2024 | Superannuation
It’s a very human need to want to know how you are doing compared with other people of your age and stage. It’s not the same as ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ which is a more competitive, status-driven urge. Knowing where you sit in the pecking order is very useful....
by Jeremy Duffield | Jun 21, 2024 | Planning for Retirement
Keeping Retirement Simple – Part 6 In previous articles, we’ve talked about how it’s tough to plan your retirement due to uncertainty about future investment returns…and inflation. In Part 3, we showed how the amount you can spend depends on what you earn on...
by James Coyle | Jun 21, 2024 | Centrelink Age Pension
There are two major problems with the Age Pension income test. Firstly, the limit on how much you can earn is too low for retirees who are seeking ongoing meaningful workplace engagement. And secondly, the rules are now so complex, applicants for an Age Pension often...
by Kaye Fallick | Jun 20, 2024 | Retirement Advice
Last week we explored the topic of risk and how a better understanding of investment risk can boost your retirement income. We received a lot of follow-on questions on this topic, particularly the Retirement Essentials Market Risk Levels, so today we are sharing how...
by Jeremy Duffield | Jun 14, 2024 | Retirement Income
Keeping Retirement Simple – Part 5 Even if you don’t get it yet, the Age Pension is key to retirement planning for most people in Australia. Over half of older Australians get more than half their retirement income from the Age Pension. And 80% of...
by Kaye Fallick | Jun 14, 2024 | Retirement Advice
Talking about risk and retirement is a little like talking about debt and retirement. We may be aware that we need to confront this, but words like risk and debt can have negative connotations. This means many of us will avoid ever ‘going there’. But this can be a...
by James Coyle | Jun 14, 2024 | Centrelink Age Pension
Last week we promised an update on deeming thresholds. Along with the main income and asset threshold changes on 1 July the deeming thresholds will also be increased. This benefits all those whose assets are deemed to earn income by Centrelink. We have reported...
by James Coyle | Jun 5, 2024 | Retirement Advice
Well that’s a provocative headline. It was a question posed in a recent article in the Financial Review. The full headline was… “Baby Boomers are loaded. Why are they so stingy?” Now like most newspaper headlines they are designed to get a reaction and encourage...
by Jeremy Duffield | Jun 5, 2024 | Retirement Spending
Keeping Retirement Simple – Part 4 In his book Straight Talk on Investing, a friend of mine, Jack Brennan, former CEO of The Vanguard Group, gives his views on the most important piece of advice. “Live below your means….simply put, you must not spend more money...
