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James Coyle
James has over 35 years experience in financial services with particular expertise in two of the key components of retirement finance - Superannuation and the Age Pension. He is passionate about providing the guidance and support that can help older Australians enjoy their best possible retirement. He lives in regional Victoria surrounded by dogs and chooks.
Hello, wondering why after working 50yrs + my pension is reduced by the amount earned by a spouse? Also why do we have to submit the gross amount and not what is actually banked ….nett? That means the Government taxes my Wife’s earnings plus reduces my pension amount! Isn’t that double dipping? I wonder if this is applied to retirering politicians and others in government?
Totally agree with your comment. I believe it is double dipping. I do not take home a gross wage.
I do not understand why my hubby is penalized after working for 56 years and always paying his taxes for his earnings just because I work.
Once we were regarded as individuals and paid our own taxes from our wages, now all of a sudden because he is a pensioner we are now a couple and loses money from his pension for every $ I earn.
Maybe we should have been unemployed, claimed unemployment benefits, child allowance, rental assistance, food vouchers etc but no we paid our taxes to support others who have no intentions of ever working.
Hi
We are couple and I am in pension from March this year.
Because my wife is still working I am receiving pension only about $100 fortnightly.
Why the government punishing younger wifes. They needs pay our bills, foods, car expenses, clothes and ect. to the moment they will be eligible for pension.
I am a 70 yo aged pensioner. I own my own home, car and furnishings…I have been single for 6 years. I dislike living alone but am clearly worried about entering a relationship for fear of losing my pension, even partially.
I know a lovely widow who currently lives in the uk and is 63yo. The immigration authorities will not allow her into Aust for more than 3 months at a time, despite her son and grandchildren being Aust citizens.
If we were to get married in Aust she might be able to get a partner visa at a cost of thousands of dollars.
Then, to add insult to injury, Centrelink will reduce my pension by about 20% … we do not expect her to any entitlements in Aust BUT why should they reduce MY pension.
Sadly she has very few assets..a car only – she lives with her aged mother.
All we need is my aged pension as it currently is, and eventually she will receive her English Pension, which is less than my Aust pension.
All these rules and regulations are forcing me to live alone until i die – it seems so unfair.
I am frightened to go into Centrelink as every question you ask them is recorded and frankly I don’t want them knowing anything about her until if and when, I ask her in marriage.
Clearly I wish to know what the outcome of all this is financially, before I see her again.
Just typing this as a question is making me feel quite sick.
Hi Jeff. I suggest you get Financial advice. If she is only 63 – she will not e eligible for the pension until she is 67 – 4 years away. My understanding (and personal experience) is that Centrelink will treat you separately until she is of pension age.
Therefor for the next 4 years your pension will not be affected.
As she has few assets – that may work to your benefit (in 4 years time) as the asset limit is higher for couples than for a single.
Wrong Bill, my younger wife works and my pension just got slashed to buggery because she earns an income above the minimum excess of 320 a fortnight above your pension. It is so unfair that I worked 50 years to find out now I will have to go back to work and get full time employment (if i can at 71 years old) and spend the last few years of my life stressing over being able to make food for the table. Penalty for marrying again. I would say do NOT get married and just play the game they play
I am looking to retire in March/April next year. Should I be applying now.
Hi Reg
If you are Age Pension age you can apply for your Pension as long as you also pass the income and assets tests. It’s a common misunderstanding, a lot of people think they have to be retired before they can apply for the Age Pension. You can still be working and getting the Pension – in fact the Government encourages it with the Work Bonus.
What is the work bonus
I retired on 3 October 2018 and am currently in the process of applying for the pension. My question is will my superannuation affect my pension as I have not yet withdrawn it from the fund.
Hi Dave
Once you turn Age Pension age (currently 65.5 years) the balance of your superannuation (either in accumulation or pension phase) will be counted as a financial asset when Centrelink calculates your Age Pension entitlement. Hope this makes sense.
Does the work bonus still apply if you retire but later go back to the same company to do some casual work?
It absolutely applies in this instance Marilyn. If you would like to understand how the Work Bonus applies to your circumstances why not give us a call on 1300 527 727 Mon-Fri.
Good afternoon Marilyn, the work bonus applies to any job and Centrelink will calculate this automatically through your fortnightly reporting, regardless of where you are working. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us on 1300 527 727.
If you retire and have say $110,000 in you super fund does that amount ?affect how much you get paid on the old age pension
The super amount is included in your assets total and is likely to reduce your age pension by $3 for every 1000 i.e. fortnightly pension reduced by 330 dollars. This presumes your pension is based on assets test rather than income test.
My husband is on the age pension and I’m on a disability pension.
We are payed separately.
I will be eligible for the age pension in May so we will be payed as a couple and we will be loosing money is that right?
Thank you.
Hi Kerry. There is a process to enable you to stay on the disability pension or transition to the Age Pension. We are not experts on the disability pension so it would be best to check with Centrelink on 132 300 for an answer to your question
Can I use my superannuation to add to my pension by $1200 a month to raise it to an acceptable level?
I have limited super an want to make it last for my foreseeable life time.
Hi Denis
Of course you can use your super as an income stream to supplement your pension payment. Centrelink see your income stream as an asset (assessed on the full account balance) rather than an income. You just need to keep Centrelink up to date if you change your financial circumstances ie. convert super from accumulation to pension phase.
Hope this helps.
My super is now in the pension phase.
I recieve a payment each fortnight from it. My wife is under pension age and still working.
Applying for a pension, do I show my fortnight’s payment as a wage? If I do, must I also declare my balance as deemable asset?
Thanks for your help, Malcolm.
Hi Malcolm
Thanks for your question, it is one that we get asked a lot. When you apply for your Pension the balance of your income stream is reported to Centrelink as an ‘asset’, the fortnightly payment is not reported as ‘income’. Hope this helps.
I am 65.5 years old and working whilst my partner is 72 and virtually retired. She is in poor health ,has no super and receives a tiny part pension because of my income from manual labour. My gross takings are used to work this out which is outrageous as a significant part of my takings are deductible expenses when I pay tax. My partner qualified for Homecare Level 3 and waited from October 2017 to February 2019 when Level 2 came through. She was asked to pay $450/ month which she can’t afford once again because of my taxable income of near $40 k. Why should I bother working? I can’t afford to pay for two either. I never saw this coming….
My husband and I are self employed and looking to retire at the end of 2019. Can we keep working full time while our pension application is being processed by Centrelink or do we have to stop working at time of application? If we do we will have no income for that waiting period.
I am 65 turning 66 in Jan 2020.I work part time 2 days a week earning $1500 per fortnight and have two fulltime children that i care for through fostercare aged 14 and 16 years. how will this affect my pension when i apply in October?
Hi I am 61 and have a reasonable amount in super, I work 26 hours a week which reduces my husbands Pension. Would I be best to retire and draw on my super until pension age? We own everything so don’t have the worry of loans
Hi im in the same boat as hayden only my wife is twenty years younger than me we been married 24 years she been working 22 years and i been working for 51 years i had little super. we allways had plenty to live on when i was working go over sea and week end trips.Now that im on old age penison my wife works .My penison is cut by half.Shame on you australia i payed my taxes why must i sit at home .
if i marry retired man in australia and i am filipino and my age is 43 is it affected to his pension?
I am 81 years of age and am on the age pension I have a philippino partner 66 years of age living in australia with me she will probably never be entitled to an australian pension however centrelink have reduced my pension by 20% . Are they trying to discourage partnership with foreigners as it is difficult for 2 people to live on $711 a fortnight . I payed my taxes all my working life and nursed my wife for 20 years before I lost her to lymphoma 7 years ago ; we were married for 49 years ; they do not care about elderly peoples loneliness as long as it doesn’t cost .
Hi She will be entitled to job seeker after 2 years of being in Au. I was in the same situation. My partner works now, but alas, my age pension is reduced according to her before tax earnings. We keep our money separate, and this causes problems for us because some fortnights mine is reduced to $150. What then? Is she expected to pay all expenses, not to mention things I would like to buy as well? I don’t want to be a ( kept man) after being independent for all of my life…… Not a nice feeling! I believe that many people are in our situation and are disadvantaged. It does put a strain on relationships; choices: live alone? wish you well.
hi am coming to pension age and have shares in racehorse do any winnings affect the pension
Hi, Michael, your entitlements will be assessed on the basis of your income and assets. If your winnings increase your financial assets, for example, money in the bank, then they could impact your entitlements.
A friend and myself own and live in a premises as Tenants in Common. We share all outgoings, dont have joint bank accounts, utilities are in both names.
When applying for the pension how do we convince Centrelink that we are friends and not a couple
Iam claiming age pension 66.5 in Janurary 2022 my wife is 63 we are both on jobseeker due to covid. Will I be classified as single or couple in regards to Pension or will I only get couple pension rate and she will only get jobseeker rate.
Hi David, Centrelink class you as single or couple based on if you are involved in a relationship with another person or not. You will be classed as a couple whether one person is applying or both and therefore it is the couple’s income and asset thresholds that would be applicable to your claim. Regarding the pension rate it is the couple’s pension rate that would be applicable to you (max $1,436 per f/n) however as the couple’s pension is designed to be paid 50/50 between both parties, applying only for yourself means you will only be eligible for your 50% of the couple’s pension (max $718 per f/n), not the full amount. Your wife can continue to receive Job Seeker payments whilst you are on the Age Pension.
I am on the Centrelink Disability Support Pension (DSP). My partner (aged 62) has just ceased employment but will soon receive a monthly payment from income protection insurance. Does Centrelink classify this payment as “income” and apply deeming to it?
Hi John, thanks for seeking clarity! We don’t specialise in the DSP so I cannot be certain but I believe Centrelink will consider the payments as income. There would not be any deeming though as deeming only applies to assets, not income. I recommend you call Centrelink’s Disability Support line on 132 717 Monday to Friday 8am-5pm to be sure.
What a sick and sorry and complicated and confusing system we have – income tests, assets tests, deeming, single, couple, younger, older, hopeless and inefficient and expensive bureaucracy, endless stress and anxiety. Only an army of bureaucrats and politicians could have dreamed this up. How much simpler (with far less administrative cost) this would be if our government had the brains and the guts to implement a Universal Pension system – “Here’s your fully entitled pension with no strings attached, earn as much as you like under whatever circumstances you want with any partner (or not) of your choosing, and pay tax according to your total means”.
asking for a friend her husband is now in a home for dementure ,both being in their 80’s is there anyway can she claim a single pension now as she finding it hard on the money she gets
Hi Trish. Your friend would be assessed as a couple living apart due to ill health. She would then get the Single Age Pension rate. The best approach would be to call Centrelink and she may need to fill out a Relationship Details Form (SS284)