Volume 9 Edition 2 Financial Care Services Newsletter
Online at Permalink: https://financialcareservices.com.au/newsletters/vol-9-ed-2/
Financial Care Services, the specialist adviser to seniors in transition to new lifestyles
Volume 9 Edition 2 – 28 February 2019
When a Centrelink Pensioner goes travelling abroad
Australian seniors like to travel. Retirees freed from work commitments might be ready for that extended overseas adventure.
But before you confirm your travel plans you might think about the Centrelink implications of your absence from Australia.
Most Age Pensioners can take a holiday of not more than six weeks without losing any Age Pension.
Just one month outside of Australia causes serious problems for two groups of Centrelink Pensioners.
Firstly, your Centrelink Pension will be cancelled if you were not living in Australia for two full years across the period that you applied for and started receiving that Pension. This means that if you applied for an Age Pension immediately you arrived back in Australia after working abroad for, say, five years, then Centrelink would cancel your Age Pension if you exited Australia within the next two years.
Disability Support Pensioners are only allowed four weeks away in any year
The second group of Centrelink Pensioners to be impacted severely are Disability Support Pensioners who are absent from Australia for more than twenty eight days in any rolling twelve month period. Yes, that is just four weeks as recorded in the great Commonwealth computer system.
Disability Support Pensioners may split their 28 day allowance into shorter trips. But you need to keep careful records to ensure that you are not away for 29 days in any year as counted by the Commonwealth.
The Disability Support Pensioners who have satisfied Centrelink that they are totally incapable of becoming workers, can have their Disability Support Pensions adjusted after leaving Australia in the same way as Age Pensioners.
Extensions to the 28 day allowance can be granted for some study courses and para sports competitions.
But if there is any possibility that you might be able to work at all at any time in the future then your Disability Support Pension will be cancelled immediately you have been out of Australia for twenty nine days in the in the last twelve months.
Cancellation of your Disability Support Pension means losing your Pension Concession Card. Then you would not get any Pensioner discounts on utility bills if you were without a valid Pension Concession Card on the relevant billing date.
On returning to Australia after exceeding your 28 day absence allowance, Centrelink might not reinstate your Disability Support Pension.
Once your Disability Support Pension has been cancelled for any reason, you would need to reapply and satisfy the current standards for incapacity for working. Beware, the ‘work capacity’ assessment standards have changed in the last decade. Not all current Disability Support Pensioners would remain eligible if they were assessed against the 2019 ‘work capacity’ test.
Age Pensioners abroad for a continuous period of six weeks
Once you have been away from Australia for six weeks your Age Pension payment rate will reduce.
The Clean Energy Supplement stops once you have been out of Australia for six weeks.
In February 2019, the Clean Energy Supplement is paid at the rate of $14.10 per fortnight for a single Pensioner and $10.60 per fortnight for each eligible Pensioner member of a couple.
Departed permanently once you are away from Australia for 26 weeks
The next critical timing point is when you have been away from Australia for six months or you are known to have departed ‘permanently’.
Your Age Pension payment can be reduced significantly if you have permanently departed Australia but you had not lived in Australia for 35 years of ‘working lifetime’.
Working lifetime starts not earlier than your sixteenth birthday and ends no later than when you attain your Age Pension Age.
But moving to a country that has a current Social Security Agreement with Australia might allow you to keep your full Age Pension.
Social Security Agreements change over time. Some Social Security Agreements such as that with the United Kingdom, now are closed to new cases.
Before you confirm your travel plans be sure to check the Centrelink impact of your overseas adventures.
Help to understand how your situation fits the absent Pensioner system
Age Pensioners who are thinking about moving overseas need to check out their situation and all of the special rules at Centrelink.
Christine at Financial Care Services writes this Age Pension Guide. She can help you to understand your Centrelink Pension situation.
Ask Christine to help you navigate your Age Pension challenge before you pay for your overseas travel.
Absentee Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders are different from Pensioners
Commonwealth Seniors Health Card usually continues while you are away.
The main advantage of holding a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card is access to PBS prescription medications at Pensioner Concession prices. You need to visit a pharmacy within Australia to access these PBS prescription price concessions. Therefore the Commonwealth does not rush to cancel your Commonwealth Seniors Health Card if you are away from Australia.
However, your Commonwealth Seniors Health Card could be cancelled and/or a new Card not issued to you in September, if Centrelink are not satisfied that your ‘adjusted taxable income’ continues to be under the limit.
For example, a substantial capital gain from selling that beach house, could increase your ‘adjusted taxable income’ enough to have your Card cancelled until you inform Centrelink of a lower ‘adjusted taxable income’ for a later year.
Being away from Australia when Centrelink receive your latest Income Tax return data could delay your reinstatement actions.
Help to understand how your situation fits in the Age Pension system
Age Pensioners who are thinking about moving overseas need to check out their situation and all of the special rules at Centrelink.
Christine at Financial Care Services writes this Age Pension Guide. She can help you to understand your Age Pension situation.
Ask Christine to help you navigate your Age Pension challenge.
Financial Care Services your independent adviser
Financial Care Services is an independent advisory service specialising in retirees of modest means and aged care entrants. Our core values include working with clients in claiming DVA and Centrelink entitlements.
The team at Financial Care Services are here to answer your Age Pension questions and guide your understanding of aged care costs. Help with Centrelink challenges is available from Financial Care Services, the specialist adviser to seniors in transition to new lifestyles.
To arrange an appointment for further confidential, independent and professional advice about DVA, Centrelink, lifestyle or aged care issues please contact Christine Hopper 03 9808 0338.
Financial Care Services 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, 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 Pty Ltd
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 172 Warrigal Road, Camberwell Victoria 3124
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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.
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