Age Pension Concierge @ yourpension.com.au

With the recent lowering of the cash rate by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) there  has been renewed concerns over the Centrelink deeming rates applied for the age pension.  We have discussed this topic before and suggested that while it is a relatively simple mechanism to ‘average’ the various investments returns, we are concerned with the growing discrepancy between the applied rate and the cash rate. The current (May 3 2016) RBA cash rate is 1.75% while the Centrelink deeming rate continues be as high as 3.25%. While even the most common term deposit rates are less than 2.5%. Four years ago there was virtually no difference between the cash rate and the highest deeming rate. The result? Pensioners are receiving less! Some of the arguments put forward by those supporting the 3.25% rate include: Q. “Commercial superannuation returns are more than 7%, what’s wrong with 3.25%?” A. Super ‘funds’ generally recommend a more conservative fund balance balance for thos...

We continue to have enquiries regarding the changes to the Age Pension scheduled for 1 Jan 2017. Approximately 50,000 Age Pensioners are projected to be better off under the government’s changes and receive the full pension and about 120,000 part pensioners are predicted to add around $30 per fortnight to their wallet. However, recent reports have indicated that far more will be disadvantaged with more than 300,000 Age Pensioners having at least part of their pension cut, and just under 100,000 of these people losing all Age Pension entitlements. The government has said that people who do lose their pensions in 2017 will automatically be entitled to receive a Commonwealth senior’s health card or a low income health card. These cards will provide access to Medicare bulk billing and less expensive pharmaceuticals. Of course, this is not a concession as a result of the proposed changes this simply remains the current situation. The Low Income/Concession cards are income based...

Every 6 months (March and September) the Age Pension is automatically adjusted in accordance with indexation. Of course the ‘age old’ question is which indexation factor is the one that should be applied. The ‘standard’ CPI or the CPI that best reflects pensioner costs? From 20 March 2016 the following Age Pension rates will apply Maximum pension payment rates Previous Current Increase Single Base $788.40 $794.80 $6.40 Supplement (1) $64.50 $65.00 $0.50 Energy Supp.(2) $14.10 $14.10 nill Total $867.00 $873.90 $6.90 Couple (each) Base $594.30 $599.10 $4.80 Supplement (1) $48.60 $49.00 $0.40 Energy Supp. (2) $10.60 $10.60 nill Total $653.50 $658.70 $5.20 So an age pensioner, ...

We have received quite a few requests for information regarding running and Airbnb – or equivalent – while receiving the age pension. There appears to be two reasons why people are considering this option: To reduce their assessed asset base leading up to new pension rules in 2017. To avoid ‘losing the pension’ pensioners are considering home renovations to enable the provision of an income generating service such as Airbnb. Recent press articles have implied pensioners are ‘hogging’ prime residential space.   So what happens if an age pensioner provides a service such as Airbnb? Currently Centrelink will treat the income as a ‘board and lodging’ category income. In a more traditional ‘board and lodging operation’ the declared income is more easily declared. We understand this is currently understandably being reviewed by Centrelink. So what happens if the income is sporadic? Then it falls into a type of wage/income reporting where fortnightly income reportin...