You’ve made the decision to retire; the last day of work has come; the cake is eaten and your desk is packed. Now you have the time to consider what comes next. You’ve reached the age where you can apply for the age pension and you think it’s a great idea to supplement your retirement income.
Many people rely on Centrelink’s age pension when they retire. However, sometimes the rules around getting the pension aren’t clear. There are many people out there who might be eligible to receive the pension but, due to their belief in some of the common ‘myths’ below, they haven’t even applied.
Myth 1: My home is worth too much. It will stop me from getting the pension
Your home (and up to 2 hectares of land around it) isn’t counted as an asset for Centrelink purposes.
It’s incredible to think we’re in the last couple of months of the 2017/18 financial year. We’re at the stage where we’re starting to think about everything we need to finish before the end of June, and starting to plan our move into the next financial year. So, this year, let’s not leave it all until the last week! Let’s get started on our EOFY planning.
Superannuation
Firstly, let’s make the most of our superannuation contribution caps.
The March quarter saw one of the worst starts to the calendar year since the global financial crisis (GFC) in 2008. This is in contrast to the very positive end to the 2017 calendar year. And while conditions are not that different to this time last year, with global growth relatively robust, inflation low and government policies still accommodative, a reassessment appears to have occurred in markets.
Optimism was replaced by a more realistic appraisal of what risks and challenges were ahead.
Scott Morrison has released his third budget, which includes tax cuts and a road to surplus. In all there are some $140 billion in tax savings over the next 10 years, with middle income earners receiving tax savings of up to $1,060 per year.
We have compiled some of the key highlights from the budget below noting that these are proposed changes by the government at this stage and some of them may or may not become law.
The recent volatility in the global stock markets inevitably has clients asking, “what should I be doing?”.
Considering the market, the U.S. in particular, has been on a bull run since 2009 moving to record highs and double-digit gains, it’s not entirely unexpected to experience a pullback.
The reasons for this latest volatility is an uptick in U.S. inflation and with that an expectation of interest rate increases. This in fact is not bad news but good fundamental economic news.
