Better Deal for Local Retirees
18 Feb 2019
New laws giving older Australians in Sturt a better deal in their retirement have passed the Parliament. The Retirement Incomes Bill 2018 will make a number of changes to give locals more financial options in Retirement from July 1.
The Pension Work Bonus – the amount that can be earned from work without affecting the eligibility for the Age Pension – will rise from $250 to $300 a fortnight, giving 90,000 people across Australia an increase in their payments.
Australians of retirement age who chose to work will be able to keep more of their pension, while self-employed pensioners will also qualify for the Work Bonus for the first time.
Around 1,150 more people will also become eligible for a social security pension for the first time.
The new laws will also expand the Pension Loans Scheme, which will give more people the option of borrowing against the value of their home to draw down fortnightly payments from Centrelink. This will give older Australians a higher standard of living in retirement by receiving additional fortnightly payments in the form of a loan.
The combination of a pension payment and a loan payment can be up to 150 per cent of the full pension, or $1,374.45 a fortnight for a single person of pension age.
Importantly, any eligible Australian of pension age who owns a home can participate in the Pension Loans Scheme, regardless of whether they would otherwise be eligible for a full pension, part pension or no pension.
While the Liberal National Government is helping retirees, Labor wants to hit them with new taxes.
Under Labor’s retiree tax, retirees stand to lose thousands of dollars from their nest egg. Around 900,000 Australians, 200,000 self-managed super funds and 2,000 super funds will be hit. This includes 8,235 Sturt residents.
On average, individuals will lose $2,2000 a year and self-managed super funds will lose $12,000 a year. For many, the losses will be even higher.
By contrast, our Liberal National Government is able to deliver more support to retirees, thanks to our strong economy and prudent management of the Budget.