Once a passive phase of life, now retirement has almost been phased out!
Yet life planning is important for those wishing to ensure good Health and Wealth in their later years. On our About Seniors Retirement Planning page we offer planning tips and resources, financial information, a ‘Ready to Retire?’ quiz, as well as the latest books and sites for you to explore.
For a down-to-earth retirement guide, you can also read the following retirement planning articles from Your Life magazine.
Your money or your life – a three-step plan for financing your retirement
Go there
Retirement planning – How to double your nest egg
Go there
Retirement Planning
Retirement planning gets bad press. The consequence is that a majority of 45 to 64-year-old Australians have entered the land of denial when it comes to this issue. And there seems little to get them out of denial when most retirement planning information is full of references to aged care, going grey, becoming dependent, and dying. Clichéd photographs of grey haired couples drinking lattes or walking hand-in-hand on the beach suggest singles don't matter, and happily retired couples just play.
How does this affect you? If you're feeling fit, healthy and happy to work for a few more years at least – can't your retirement planning wait?
Find out now
Age Pension asset limits
About Seniors subscriber, Ian, is confused as to why his father will lose half his pension despite being within the published Centrelink asset limits.
Q. Ian
My father has recently sold his house. This money is now in the bank as savings and is below the Centrelink asset limit of $296, 250. On declaring the sale of the house to Centrelink, they state that he will lose approximately half his fortnightly pension.
I am a little dumbfounded as to how they can advise to an 85 year old, this sort of information, given that we have based our calculations on the information they have on their website.
A. It’s important to highlight that pensions are subject to two means tests, called the income and assets tests. Centrelink works out the pension rates under the income test and the assets test and pays whichever is the lower of the two rates.
There are a number of different factors that may affect the rate of a pension. Here is a link to some information on the Centrelink website about what assets Centrelink will take into account when assessing the rate of Age Pension to be paid - Centrelink website - Assessable assets.
Under the pension income test and allowance income test, any income you get from financial investments is assessed under one simple set of rules, known as deeming. Centrelink uses deeming to assess income from financial assets such as bank accounts, term deposits, shares and managed investments. This means Centrelink assume financial investments are earning a certain amount of income, regardless of the income they actually earn. Centrelink add up the customer’s financial assets, then apply the deeming rates rather than using the actual dividends or interest earned. Here’s a link to a factsheet about deeming - Centrelink website - Deeming factsheet
If your father is unsure about how his payment rate is being calculated, he should talk to Centrelink by telephoning 13 2300 or visit his local Centrelink Customer Service Centre. He can also make an appointment to see a Centrelink Financial Information Services Officer free of charge to discuss how his individual circumstances may affect his payment rate.
Your father may also wish to authorise you (or another person) to handle his business with Centrelink on his behalf. This person is called a ‘nominee’. Nominee arrangements are usually voluntary and can be cancelled at any time by contacting Centrelink. Here is a link to a factsheet about nominee arrangements available on the Centrelink website - Nominees factsheet.
