We're retired, how can we get additional income outside our super?
The information you were given is wrong. Services Australia general manager Hank Jongen tells me they encourage customers to notify them when their circumstances change, to ensure the correct payments are being made.
This includes changes to Australian-listed shares for both customers and their partners. If there is a change of $2000 or more in the combined value of investments, they must be informed within 14 days. They also need to be notified if there are changes to the number of shares or investment units held.
For changes under $2000 to shares, investments, bank balances, or loans, reporting is optional. Listed shares, securities and market-linked managed investments are automatically revalued on March 20 and September 20 each year.
You can request a revaluation at any time, with no limit on the number of requests for shares or managed investments. When a revaluation is requested, all unitised managed investments and listed shares on your record will be included.
Given the current share market volatility, it may be worth contacting Services Australia for a revaluation to ensure your pension is correctly calculated. If you are receiving a part-rate payment, advising them of any reduction in asset values could also be to your benefit.
My husband turns 67 at the end of this month and I'm 65. We're retired, own our home, and have a mortgage-free rental property. We both have super from working for the WA state government. We're thinking of selling the rental in the next financial year. If I contribute some proceeds to my super (still in accumulation phase), will Centrelink count that as an asset when assessing my husband's age pension eligibility?
Loading
Would it be better to keep the rental for now, or should he delay applying for the pension until after the sale and contribution? Our combined assets, including the rental, are around $800,000. Rent is $1200 per week.
Money in superannuation in accumulation phase is not counted by Centrelink until the member reaches pensionable age. Therefore, selling the property and contributing the proceeds to your super – within your available limits – could make sense.
Watch for capital gains tax. Tax-deductible contributions may help reduce this, and catch-up rules might boost how much you can contribute and claim as a tax deduction. Seek advice from a financial adviser and be aware that your husband must meet the work test to make deductible contributions after turning 67.
My father entered aged care in April but is in rapid decline. We're trying to understand how the 1 July changes will affect him if he's still in care. You mentioned the home is exempt while my mother lives there, which I believe applies to the age pension. But for the aged care means test, isn't $206,663 of the home's value still counted? With assets of $470,275 dad is paying $17.35 per day in means-tested fees plus the basic daily fee. We haven't paid the Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD) yet, as it would leave mum with very little.
The home is exempt for both pension and aged care means testing when a spouse lives there. The aged care reforms taking effect from July 1, 2025 will not affect your father as his aged care costs are grandfathered under the existing rules.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AU Financial Review
32 minutes ago
- AU Financial Review
Lithium miner Ioneer launches $25m capital raising
Australian lithium miner Ioneer is back in front of investors with a capital raising. Ioneer's Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project.
West Australian
44 minutes ago
- West Australian
Stocks' restrained response to US-China trade framework
Share markets and the dollar have offered a guarded welcome to the latest signs of progress in US-China trade talks, while awaiting more detail of what was decided and whether it would stick for long. Bond investors were also hunkered down for a reading in US inflation that could show the early impact of tariffs on prices, and a Treasury auction that will test demand for the debt. In London, negotiators from Washington and Beijing said they had "agreed a framework on trade" that would be taken back to their leaders. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick added the implementation plan should result in restrictions on rare earths and magnets being resolved, but again offered no specifics. "Even though details are scant, as long as the two sides are talking, I think markets will be happy," said Carol Kong, a currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "It will still be very hard and it will take a long time for both sides to reach a comprehensive trade agreement," she added. "That sort of comprehensive deal usually takes years to be reached, so I'm sceptical that a framework reached at the meeting in London will be comprehensive." The law was another hurdle as a federal appeals court allowed President Donald Trump's most sweeping tariffs to remain in effect on Tuesday while it reviews a lower court decision blocking them. Investors, who have been badly burned by trade turmoil before, offered a cautious response and MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2 per cent. Japan's Nikkei added 0.4 per cent in early trade on Wednesday and Australian stocks firmed 0.4 per cent. EUROSTOXX 50 futures, FTSE futures and DAX futures were all down 0.2 per cent, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures both lost 0.1 per cent. The reaction in currency markets was equally restrained, with the dollar dipping 0.1 per cent on the Japanese yen to 144.73 . The euro edged up to $1.1433 and the dollar index held steady at 98.971. Bond investors had other things to worry about and yields on 10-year Treasuries were little changed at 4.467 per cent. An auction of $US39 billion ($A60 billion) in 10-year notes is due later in the day and the market is anxious to see if foreign buyers turn up. Concerns about huge US budget deficits and debt have combined with unease over the White House's erratic trade policies to see investors demand a higher term premium for holding Treasuries. Data on US consumer prices for May might also show some initial upward pressure from tariffs, though analysts assume it will take a few months to fully show in the series. Median forecasts are for the headline CPI to rise 0.2 per cent and the core 0.3 per cent, which would nudge the annual rates up to 2.5 per cent and 2.9 per cent respectively. Anything higher would be a setback to hopes for another rate cuts from the Federal Reserve and could see bonds sell off. Markets imply little chance the Fed will ease at its meeting next week or in July, but have priced around a 60 per cent chance of a move in September. In commodity markets, gold edged up 0.3 per cent to $US3,333 ($A5,113) an ounce. Oil prices eased back from near seven-week highs ahead of U.s. inventory data. Brent dropped 31 cents to $US66.56 ($A102.10) a barrel, while US crude eased 28 cents to $US64.71 ($A99.27) per barrel.
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Stocks' restrained response to US-China trade framework
Share markets and the dollar have offered a guarded welcome to the latest signs of progress in US-China trade talks, while awaiting more detail of what was decided and whether it would stick for long. Bond investors were also hunkered down for a reading in US inflation that could show the early impact of tariffs on prices, and a Treasury auction that will test demand for the debt. In London, negotiators from Washington and Beijing said they had "agreed a framework on trade" that would be taken back to their leaders. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick added the implementation plan should result in restrictions on rare earths and magnets being resolved, but again offered no specifics. "Even though details are scant, as long as the two sides are talking, I think markets will be happy," said Carol Kong, a currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "It will still be very hard and it will take a long time for both sides to reach a comprehensive trade agreement," she added. "That sort of comprehensive deal usually takes years to be reached, so I'm sceptical that a framework reached at the meeting in London will be comprehensive." The law was another hurdle as a federal appeals court allowed President Donald Trump's most sweeping tariffs to remain in effect on Tuesday while it reviews a lower court decision blocking them. Investors, who have been badly burned by trade turmoil before, offered a cautious response and MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2 per cent. Japan's Nikkei added 0.4 per cent in early trade on Wednesday and Australian stocks firmed 0.4 per cent. EUROSTOXX 50 futures, FTSE futures and DAX futures were all down 0.2 per cent, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures both lost 0.1 per cent. The reaction in currency markets was equally restrained, with the dollar dipping 0.1 per cent on the Japanese yen to 144.73 . The euro edged up to $1.1433 and the dollar index held steady at 98.971. Bond investors had other things to worry about and yields on 10-year Treasuries were little changed at 4.467 per cent. An auction of $US39 billion ($A60 billion) in 10-year notes is due later in the day and the market is anxious to see if foreign buyers turn up. Concerns about huge US budget deficits and debt have combined with unease over the White House's erratic trade policies to see investors demand a higher term premium for holding Treasuries. Data on US consumer prices for May might also show some initial upward pressure from tariffs, though analysts assume it will take a few months to fully show in the series. Median forecasts are for the headline CPI to rise 0.2 per cent and the core 0.3 per cent, which would nudge the annual rates up to 2.5 per cent and 2.9 per cent respectively. Anything higher would be a setback to hopes for another rate cuts from the Federal Reserve and could see bonds sell off. Markets imply little chance the Fed will ease at its meeting next week or in July, but have priced around a 60 per cent chance of a move in September. In commodity markets, gold edged up 0.3 per cent to $US3,333 ($A5,113) an ounce. Oil prices eased back from near seven-week highs ahead of U.s. inventory data. Brent dropped 31 cents to $US66.56 ($A102.10) a barrel, while US crude eased 28 cents to $US64.71 ($A99.27) per barrel.
