Financial Care Services Newsletter
Volume 12 Edition 3 – 31 March 2022
Financial Care Services, the specialist adviser to seniors in transition to new lifestyles
March 2022 Increase in Centrelink and DVA Pensions
Effective 20 March 2022, the full rates of Centrelink and DVA Pensions increased by 2.1%.
This percentage increase reflects the increase in the Consumer Price Index, “CPI”, for the half year to December 2021.
Disability Support Pensions and the Carer Pension are paid at the same rates as the Age Pension.
These Centrelink Pensions are subject to the same Age Pension means testing of your assets and income.
New Pension rates for Single people.
The full single rate of Age Pension was increased by $18.60 to $900.80 per fortnight.
In addition, the Pension Supplement increased by $1.50 to $72.70 per fortnight.
The Clean Energy Supplement for single Pensioners remains at $14.10 per fortnight.
Thus the maximum payment to a single Age Pensioner is now $987.60 per fortnight.
A single Age Pensioner could keep her Pensioner Concession Card and get one dollar per fortnight of Age Pension plus the Pension Supplements, if her Income was $1,979.60 per fortnight, $51,400 per year provided that the Asset Test had not excluded her from any Age Pension.
A single Age Pensioner could have $786,900 of assessable Assets or $570,400 of assessable Assets together with a home, and be eligible for one dollar per fortnight of Age Pension plus the Pension Supplements, provided that the Income Test had not excluded her from any Age Pension.
Remember, you cannot be treated as a single person at Centrelink if you have a ‘domestic partner’.
If you have a domestic partner then you would be subject to the couples’ means test on all of your combined total income and assets, even if your partner does not qualify for a Centrelink Pension.
Read more about who is a member of a couple at Centrelink.
New Partnered Pension rates for people who are members of couples at Centrelink
The partnered rate of Age Pension increased by $14.00 per person per fortnight effective 20 March 2022.
The new full partnered rate of Age Pension is $679.00 each per fortnight.
Partnered Age Pensioners also receive an increased Pension Supplements of $54.80 each per fortnight.
The couples rate of Clean Energy Supplement remains at $10.60 per person per fortnight.
The maximum fortnightly payment to a partnered Age Pensioner has increased to $744.40 per fortnight.
But the amount of your Age Pension could be less than the maximum rate if you are impacted by the Asset Test or the Income Test.
Centrelink apply whichever of the Income Test and the Asset Test generates the lower Pension payment to you.
Yes the Test that hits you the hardest will be the Test that is applied to your Age Pension.
To retain their Pensioner Concession Cards and get one dollar per fortnight of Age Pension plus the Pension Supplements, a couple living together must have a total combined Income not exceeding $3,032 per fortnight, $78,800 per year and not be excluded by the Asset Test.
A Centrelink couple living together would be excluded from any Age Pension if their total combined assessable Assets exceeded $1,073,500 or they had more than $857,000 of assessable Assets plus a home.
Help to understand how your situation fits in the Age Pension system.
The calculation of your Age Pension amount, if any, can be challenging.
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.
2022 brings us both a Federal election and a Victorian State election
Now could be a good time to update your Electoral Enrolment.
Maybe you intended to do your update once you had finished unpacking into your new home.
But the task was not urgent until now.
You could try the online “Update my details on the electoral roll” for your own enrolment.
If the online process is not your preferred option then you could use a paper form.
The easiest way to get a paper form is to print off the pdf form for your State.
You could then use real ink to complete your form.
Your completed form needs to be received by the Australian Electoral Commission before the Electoral Rolls are closed for this election.
You have options for returning your completed form.
You might choose the option that causes you the least frustration, your options include
- hand delivery to any AEC office
- ordinary ‘reply paid post’ from a post box near home
- fax, if you still have this ‘old’ technology
- uploading a scan of your completed signed form at the aec website.
Next you could help your frail family members update their enrolments
Physically frail seniors might need your help with the enrolment update process.
Granny might have moved into into residential aged care because she is physically slowing.
But she intends to continue voting.
Therefore she needs to enrol for her new address, maybe in a different electorate for her.
Where people may require additional support to enrol and vote, the AEC provides a range of ‘Easy read guides’ for people who have difficulty reading and understanding written information.
Your help might not be needed for an outing to the polling place.
The normal process is for a Mobile Voting Team to visit each aged care facility and retirement lifestyle living community.
The Mobile Voting Team visit might be only for an hour during the fortnight before the Election Day.
A physically challenged person may choose who is to help with actually marking their voting papers.
You may ask the AEC staff to help you with the reading and writing part.
But you must make your own decisions about who you vote for.
Large print voting papers are available.
But beware: a large print Senate Voting Paper is huge.
Another option for voters with low vision is to ask to use the AEC magnifier.
You can read more about how frail seniors can safely go to the polls.
FAQs: Mobile voting in residential care facilities – Australian Electoral Commission (aec.gov.au)
When someone no longer understands what voting is about
Sadly many seniors are experiencing a loss of cognitive function so that they can no longer understand the how and why of voting in an election.
As a family member, you might be able to see what is happening but what do you do about grandpa’s vote?
You could inform the AEC that a family member has become unable to understand about elections.
You need to print off the AEC Objection claim that an elector should not be enrolled 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 grandpa removed from the electoral roll and thereby reduce the votes to his favourite political party.
Christine at 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 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 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 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
Website – visit financialcareservices.com.au
LinkedIn – connect https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinehopper1
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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.
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