Financial Care Services Newsletter
by Christine Hopper
Volume 12 Edition 8– 31 August 2022
Christine at Financial Care Services, the specialist adviser to seniors in transition to new lifestyles
Can Age Pensioners still work?
Australian citizens are free to work as employees, volunteers or as self-employed business operators.
Thus seniors who have attained their Age Pension Age are free to work for wages or profit from their business enterprises.
Our Social Security system provides a basic income for seniors who are considered too old to adequately provide for themselves through work.
The Age Pension Income Test and Asset Test restrict the amount of Age Pension payable to seniors who already have other income and/or significant assets.
Remember, younger taxpayers are not thrilled to be supporting wealthy seniors.
Work Bonus
However, a few hours of paid work each week, could be good for the senior’s mental health as well as their bank account.
The Age Pension Work Bonus does provide some encouragement for seniors to remain connected to the paid workforce.
The Age Pension Work Bonus allows for the first $300 per fortnight of earnings from work by the Age Pensioner to be disregarded for the Age Pension Income Test.
Age Pensioners may accumulate a full year of Work Bonus credits for use in a later period.
Thus an Age Pensioner could utilise their Work Bonus credits each fortnight by earning a regular income of at least $300 per fortnight.
Another work pattern could be seasonal blocks of fulltime work; the saved Work Bonus credits could be utilised over short periods of work.
Stopping your Age Pension payments and cancellation of your Pensioner Concession Card.
Once you have used up your accrued Work Bonus, all of your work income counts for the Age Pension Income Test.
The Income Test reduces your Age Pension payment rate by fifty cents for each additional dollar of income.
In August 2022, the Income Test would exclude a single person from receiving any Age Pension if her income exceeded $1,989.60 that fortnight.
For a couple to be excluded by the Income Test, from receiving any Age Pension they would need a combined income of more than $3,048 that fortnight.
Yes Centrelink would know about your actual income because you must report your work income every fortnight.
Just one big income fortnight would generate a nil Age Pension payment for the next fortnight.
But four consecutive nil Age Pension payments could end your status as an Age Pensioner.
Centrelink would then cancel your Pensioner Concession Card.
You would lose your Pensioner discounts on utility bills, Council rates and PBS pharmacy prescriptions.
You could reapply for an Age Pension when your income reduces to below the cut-off for an Age Pension.
Commonwealth Seniors Health Card
In the meantime, you could consider applying for a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card.
Access to PBS pharmacy prescriptions at the Pensioner Concession prices is the main benefit of holding a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card.
The income limit for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card is higher than the Age Pension Income Test cut-off.
But the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card and the Age Pension have a different definitions of ‘income’.
Help to consider the Age Pension impact of your work income before you start a new job.
The calculation of your Age Pension amount, if any, can be challenging.
Including additional income from work adds more complexities.
The easy route is to ask for the Financial Care Services 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 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.
Contact Christine at Financial Care Services to obtain the Financial Care Services Age Pension Illustration Personal Data form.
You will also receive our Client Services Guide that provides essential information about Christine Hopper of Financial Care Services.
Alternatively you could search through the Centrelink website for clues about Pension rates and means tests then do the sums yourself.
If the Income and/or Assets Tests would exclude you from the Age Pension, Christine could help you check whether you would qualify for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card.
But holders of the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card do not qualify for the full range of concessions that come with the Pensioner Concession Card.
Spring is coming together with another election season
Voting at Federal and State elections is both a privilege and a responsibility of every Australian citizen.
The Victorian State election is scheduled for Saturday 26 November 2022.
You are responsible for your enrolment for your current residential address.
The Australian Electoral Commission “AEC”, maintains the electoral rolls and manages our elections.
Changed district boundaries for the 2022 Victorian State election
The boundary lines for both the Lower House Districts and the Upper House Regions have moved slightly.
The western boundary line for my previous electoral District has moved eastward by about one kilometre.
That small move of the electoral boundary means that my home is now part of an inner Melbourne district.
My home is still on the same plot of land but the boundary between Districts has moved.
You might also find that you have changed Lower House Districts or Upper House Regions without moving house.
You can check which District and Region covers your enrolled address at Victorian State Electoral Boundaries Map (ebc.vic.gov.au) .
Updating your details to be on the electoral roll at your correct address
If you move home then it is your responsibility to re-enrol with the AEC, at your new residential address.
Therefore you need to re-enrol if you have entered a retirement lifestyle community village or adopted your former holiday house as your principal residence.
The change of address can be achieved online if you have a current Driver Licence.
Just go the AEC Change Address form.
If you are without a current Driver Licence then you can use your Passport number instead.
The form needs to be printed and signed with real ink if you are using your Passport for identification.
If you have neither a current Driver Licence nor a Passport then you need to have your Change of Address form witnessed by another elector.
This option means that you need to print off the form and then sign your paper form and have another elector sign that they witnessed your signature.
Removing names from the electoral roll
While updating your own enrolment sounds straight forward removing someone’s name from the electoral roll is complicated because Australian citizens cannot exclude themselves.
The State Registrars of Deaths inform the AEC about people who die within Australia.
The family only need to report to the AEC if a citizen dies whilst travelling outside of Australia.
The easy way to inform the AEC of deaths whilst overseas is to use its Notification of Death form.
A more challenging situation arises when a family member is still breathing but no longer understanding what elections are all about.
You need to print off the AEC form for removal of a name from the electoral roll.
The AEC requires this form to be signed off by a medical practitioner who knows the person.
The doctor’s signature is mandated so that you cannot have great aunt Maud removed from the electoral roll to reduce the votes to her favourite political party.
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 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 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 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.
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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 info@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.