Financial Care Services Newsletter

by Christine Hopper
Volume 13 Edition 11 – 30 November 2023

Christine at Financial Care Services, the specialist adviser to seniors in transition to new lifestyles

Concession postage stamps for your real paper based greetings.

Does the normal $1.20 price of a stamp deter you from sending greeting cards and real letters to your family and friends?
To encourage seniors and financial challenged citizens, to keep on writing, Australia Post offers Concession Stamps for Centrelink clients.
Concession stamps currently cost three dollars for a booklet of five stamps.
That is, sixty cents per Concession stamp, half of the standard rate.

Concession stamps are for ‘personal’ mail only.
You must not use your Concession stamps on ‘business’ letters.
If you are working as a sole trader or operating a small business then you need to buy ordinary postage stamps for your business mail.

Eligibility for an Australia Post Concession card

Any Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card or Health Card, is sufficient to qualify you for an Australia Post Concession card.
The Commonwealth Seniors Health Card and the DVA Cards also grant eligibility for the Australia Post Concession card.
Self-funded retirees could qualify for a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card provided that their ‘adjusted taxable income’ is below $95,400 a year for a single person, or $152,640 a year for a couple living together.

Help to claim a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card

The Commonwealth Seniors Health Card is available to seniors who have attained Age Pension Age and completed four years as an adult Australian citizen or Permanent Resident of Australia.

The Commonwealth Seniors Health Card is subject to an Income Test but not an Asset Test.
The ‘adjusted taxable income ‘ used for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card Income Test includes both your taxable income that you reported to the ATO and many ‘income’ like items that you did not collect as Australian cash.

Help with comparing your residency and ‘adjusted taxable income’ position with the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card criteria is available from Christine Hopper of Financial Care Services.

Christine offers consultations for ‘personal factual financial information’ in the form of an estimate of your ‘adjusted taxable income’ position and residency period.
If completing Centrelink forms is not your favourite activity then Christine could assist with writing your data into a Claim for Commonwealth Seniors Health Card ready for you to check and sign.

Longer consultations are possible for seniors who want more scenarios and/or explanations of complex situation.
Hourly rate fees are charged for all consultations with Christine Hopper of Financial Care Services.

Claiming your Australia Post Concession card

The first step towards buying your Concession stamps is to establish your Australia Post Concession account.
You print off the form, mypost-concession-account-application-form.pdf ,insert your personal information then sign your form in ink, with a real pen.

The second step is to take your completed, signed form together with your Centrelink Card or DVA Card, to an Australia Post Office.
You hand over your Application form and show your Centrelink or DVA Card.
Then you can buy your first booklet of Concession Cards and/or collect your free introductory pack of Concession Cards.

A real paper envelope enclosing a plastic Australia Post Concession card attached to a paper notice, should arrive in your letter box within a few weeks.

My experience is that if you cannot locate your Australia Post Concession card when you want to buy more Concession stamps then you just present your Centrelink Card and the kind Australia Post staff would sell you the Concession stamps and order a new Concession Card for you.

Pensioner Rent Assistance

An additional fortnightly payment of Pensioner Rent Assistance is available to Centrelink Age and Disability Support Pensioners who rent from private or community landlords.

DVA pays Rent Assistance to eligible Service Pensioners.
DVA also pays Rent Assistance to those veteran Disability Pensioners and War Widow Pensioners who are recipients of the Income Support Supplement.

To be eligible for Pensioner Rent Assistance, you must be a non-homeowner and paying a significant amount of ‘rent’ for your housing.
You must be receiving some means tested Pension from Centrelink or DVA, to qualify for Rent Assistance as a senior.

Help to check if you qualify for some means tested Pension and attaching Rent Assistance.

The assessment of your Pension entitlement, if any, can be challenging.

The easy route is to ask Christine at Financial Care Services for the Age Pension Illustration Personal Data form as a checklist of essential data and then arrange for a ‘$99 Special Age Pension Illustration Short Consultation’ with Christine Hopper of Financial Care Services.

Christine could help you check whether you would qualify for a means tested Centrelink or DVA Pension.
Together we could look at how your situation compares with the citizenship residency, Income and/or Assets Tests for the Age Pension.
The Disability Support Pension has the same residency, Income and Asset Tests as the Age Pension.
Alas holders of the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card do not qualify for Rent Assistance.

Christine Hopper of Financial Care Services offers Short Consultations for ‘personal factual financial information’ in the form of an Illustration of the amount of Centrelink Age Pension you could receive today provided that you satisfied the age and residency conditions for a Centrelink Age Pension or DVA Service Pension.

Longer consultations are possible for seniors who want more scenarios and/or explanations of complex situation.
Hourly rate fees are charged for all consultations.

Contact Christine at Financial Care Services to obtain the Age Pension Illustration Personal Data form.
You will also receive her Client Services Guide that provides essential information about Christine Hopper of Financial Care Services.

Your Rent Assistance is paid each fortnight along with your regular Pension payment.
Holders of the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card are not eligible for Rent Assistance.

Housing that could attract Pensioner Rent Assistance

You could collect Rent Assistance if your housing is a privately rented apartment or house, where you live alone or with your partner.
You could qualify for Rent Assistance if you pay rent for accommodation that you share with other adults.

Some single Disability Support Pensioners continue to live with their parents or other family members.
Their eligibility for Pensioner Rent Assistance depends on their paying ‘rent’ in the form of ‘board and lodging’ or a contribution to the overall costs of running the home.

Pensioner Rent Assistance could be paid to a resident of a private aged care facility, such as an SRS in Victoria.
Centrelink would split your weekly fee into a ‘rental’ component and a ‘board’ component.

Pensioner Rent Assistance could be paid if you pay fees to occupy a permanent caravan site as your principal home.
The land lease fees for manufactured housing in a lifestyle community would qualify for rent assistance if you are a non-homeowner at Centrelink.
Beware, if the manufactured housing that you have parked in the lifestyle community is valued at more than $200,000 then you might be treated as a homeowner at Centrelink.
Pensioner Rent Assistance could be paid if you pay fees to moor a vessel that you occupy as your principal home.

How much Pensioner Rent Assistance is payable to a single person?

No Pensioner Rent Assistance is payable to a single person living alone or sharing with other adults, whose housing cost is less than $143.40 per fortnight in November 2023.

Rent Assistance for a single person living alone

The maximum rate of Pensioner Rent Assistance is payable to a single Pensioner living alone if her rent is more than $389.80 per fortnight in November 2023.
In November 2023, the maximum rate of Pensioner Rent Assistance for a Single Pensioner living alone is $184.80 per fortnight.

Your Rent Assistance is paid each fortnight along with your regular Pension payment.

Rent Assistance for a single Pensioner living in shared accommodation.

Remember that at Centrelink you cannot be treated as a single person if you live with a ‘domestic partner’.
If you claim to be ‘single at Centrelink’ who shares housing with a friend then Centrelink could ask you to clarify that you are not part of a ‘couple at Centrelink’.
A single person living in shared accommodation would usually have sole use of a bedroom.
But she would share the use of the bathroom, kitchen and sitting rooms.

For a single person who shares accommodation, the maximum Pensioner Rent Assistance is $123.20 per fortnight for a sharer whose rent exceeds $307.67 per fortnight in November 2023.

Your Rent Assistance is paid each fortnight along with your regular Pension payment.

Kim is receiving a Disability Support Pension and is living in a share house supported by a mental health group.
Kim has sole use of a bedroom and then shares the remainder of the house with three other adult Disability Support Pensioners.
Kim first met these other adults at her interview for placement in this house.
Kim is required to pay rent equal to a quarter of her income plus any Pensioner Rent Assistance received.
Kim’s only income is the Centrelink Pension of $1,002.50 per fortnight plus $94.20 of Supplements.
Kim must pay rent of $250.63 per fortnight from her Pension plus whatever Rent Assistance Centrelink provide.
Kim’s total rent would exceed $307.67 per fortnight so Kim is eligible for the maximum Pensioner Rent Assistance for shared accommodation.
Kim receives $123.20 of Pensioner Rent Assistance each fortnight and pays rent of $373.83 per fortnight.

How much Pensioner Rent Assistance is payable to a member of a “couple at Centrelink”?

No Pensioner Rent Assistance is payable to a member of a couple without children, whose housing cost for the couple, is less than $232.40 per fortnight in November 2023.

Remember a ‘couple at Centrelink’ are any two adults who share domestic arrangements and present socially as a couple.

The maximum rate of Pensioner Rent Assistance is payable to a member of a couple without children, if their rent is more than $464.40 per fortnight in November 2023.
In November 2023, the maximum rate of Pensioner Rent Assistance for a member of a couple without children, is $174.00 per person per fortnight.

Your Rent Assistance is paid each fortnight along with your regular Pension payment.

Bob and Betty are a semiretired couple who live in a modest relocatable home in a caravan park.
Betty is only 64 years young and is happy working full-time in a nursing home.
Bob has qualified for an Age Pension at a reduced rate on account of Betty’s earnings.
At Centrelink, Bob and Betty are a non-homeowner couple living together.
The site fees for their home amount to $480 per fortnight.
Thus, Bob is entitled to the maximum Rent Assistance of $174.00 per fortnight for a partnered Pensioner.
The other $306.00 per fortnight of site fees needs to be drawn from Bob’s Age Pension and Betty’s income.
Once Betty attains her Age Pension Age, she could also claim Age Pension and Rent Assistance.

But Pensioner Rent Assistance is not payable to people who own or are buying a home.

Rent Assistance is not payable to Pensioner ‘homeowners’.
At Centrelink, you would be a ‘homeowner’ if you or your partner, own your home.
You are still a ‘homeowner’ even if you have a mortgage secured against your home.
You are still a ‘homeowner’ even if you are one of many people who share ownership of the property.
Remember at Centrelink, if your name is on the Title to a property then you are an owner of that property.
You cannot claim Pensioner Rent Assistance if you or your partner, own a home but you are not living there.

At Centrelink, you would be a ‘homeowner’ if you paid more than $242,000 as from July 2023, to purchase the ‘right to occupy’ an apartment or independent living unit in a retirement village.
Likewise you would be a ‘homeowner’ if you paid more than $242,000 as from July 2023, to purchase manufactured housing in a lifestyle community.
You would also be a ‘homeowner’ if you paid more than $242,000 as from July 2023, as a granny flat ingoing amount.
The cut-off amount for non-homeowner status is usually increased each July.
Hence if you entered a retirement lifestyle community before July 2023, you would have been assessed against the cut-off amount for non-homeowner status applying then.

Therefore, you cannot claim Rent Assistance if you paid more than the cut-off amount for non-homeowner status on entry to a retirement lifestyle community.

You cannot claim Pensioner Rent Assistance if you are renting a home from a State or Territory housing authority.
You cannot claim Pensioner Rent Assistance if you are a resident of a Commonwealth regulated aged care facility.

You cannot claim Pensioner Rent Assistance if you have dependent children.
Rent Assistance for ‘families’ is assessed differently and paid as part of Family Tax Benefit A.

Special cases for Rent Assistance

Maybe, you could claim Rent Assistance as a ‘non-homeowner’ if your ingoing amount for the right to occupy your retirement lifestyle village unit was less than $242,000 and you are paying a significant amount for ongoing service fees.

Seniors who pay rent or a similar contribution to the property expenses of their granny flat hosts could claim Rent Assistance as ‘non-homeowners’.

Consider Edith who lives in a granny flat attached to her daughter’s home.
Previously Edith rented an apartment near where she worked.
On retirement, Edith could no longer afford to continue the lease.
Her daughter offered Edith use of the granny flat without needing to pay any ingoing amount or formal rent.
Thus Edith’s daughter is waiving the ‘rent’ that she could charge for use of the granny flat.
In practice, Edith does contribute to the Water and Council Rates, property insurance and the costs of mowing and home maintenance.
Centrelink could accept the rent that was waived and/or Edith’s contributions to the ongoing costs as ‘rent’ and allow Edith to claim Rent Assistance as a ‘non-homeowner’.

Claiming Rent Assistance

Centrelink ask about your current housing arrangements when you claim an Age Pension or Disability Support Pension.
If you qualify for Rent Assistance then you could expect Centrelink to include it with your new fortnightly Pension payments.

Pensioners are required to inform Centrelink every time they change their living arrangements.
You also need to show Centrelink the details of your new lease and/or your ingoing amount for your new accommodation.
Centrelink can then adjust your Rent Assistance to reflect your new circumstances.

Sue had been renting a small but expensive flat for many years whilst waiting for public housing.
Eventually Sue moved into a community housing association seniors’ village.
When Sue told Centrelink about her change of address, she also gave details of her new lease.
Centrelink continued to pay Sue the maximum rate of Rent Assistance for her new home.

Age Pensioner Michael had also been renting ‘privately’ for a long time.
When Michael could no longer manage living alone, he moved into Commonwealth regulated residential aged care.
Centrelink stopped Michael’s Rent Assistance as soon as he became a permanent resident in the aged care home.
The Commonwealth contributes to Michael’s accommodation costs via the Accommodation Supplement paid directly to his aged care home.

Updating your rent details

Centrelink can ask for updated information about your accommodation costs as part of checking that you are being paid the correct amount of Rent Assistance.
You and/or your landlord could be asked to complete a Rent Certificate showing your current rent.

Disability Support Pensioner Tom has a modest home within a rural caravan park.
The site fees for Tom’s home entitled Tom to some Rent Assistance but not the maximum rate for a single person living alone.
When Tom’s site fees were increased sharply, Tom showed his new site lease to Centrelink.
Tom’s Rent Assistance was increased to the maximum rate when his site fees reached $390 per fortnight.

Christine at Financial Care Services your independent adviser

Christine at Financial Care Services is an independent adviser specialising in retirees of modest means and aged care entrants.
Our core values include working with clients in claiming DVA and Centrelink entitlements.

Christine at Financial Care Services is here to answer your Health Card and Age Pension questions and guide your understanding of aged care costs.

Help with Centrelink challenges is available from Christine Hopper at Financial Care Services, the specialist adviser to seniors in transition to new lifestyles.

Christine has neat handwriting just right for inserting your data into small printed spaces.
She helps clients complete Centrelink forms.
Christine could help you with collating your supporting documents and then mailing your form to Centrelink.

Assistance with completing Age Pension, Low Income Health Card and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card Claims and the Commonwealth aged care means testing forms is available to clients of Christine at Financial Care Services.

Christine charges fees based on the work involved in advising you about health cards, pensions and aged care fee solutions.

To make an appointment for confidential, independent and professional advice about aged care, retirement lifestyle costs, granny flat or Age Pension issues please contact Christine Hopper or call +61 3 9808 0338.
______________________________

Christine Hopper
Financial Care Services
Independent aged care, strategic lifestyle and Social Security advice for seniors in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Telephone – call +61 3 9808 0338
Email – contact Christine@financialcareservices.com.au
Address – mail to 2B Thomas Street, Camberwell Victoria 3124
Website – visit financialcareservices.com.au
LinkedIn – connect https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinehopper1
Past newsletters – see http://financialcareservices.com.au/newsletters/
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Disclaimer: The information contained in this newsletter is of a general nature only and does not constitute “financial advice”.
All eligibility for Commonwealth benefits will be determined by Centrelink or DVA, based on your personal position as documented and the legislation and Regulations in force at that time.

© 2023 Christine Hopper @ Financial Care Services. All rights reserved.