pensioners complain about pension

[Stella]

They should feel lucky, apparently I dont get the pension when I retire, theres a certain cutoff year, there will be alot of people homeless when this takes place but I bet the government will give them payment in the end because of the crisis and Ill get nothing.. you know how it works.

Had a look at Centrelink website under 'Retirements' & 'who can get an Age Pension' (cant get link to work sorry ) - cant see a cut off year though?

Shows qualifying ages & I guess they will keep changing but cant see anywhere there saying if you are born after 19XX you won't qualify at all?

Cheers
Stella

 

[Olly]

Unfortunately my parents weren't investor savvy although they were thrifty and savers. They own their own house, but have still ended up on the pension. They managed very well until Mum went into a nursing home. Dad has been hit quite hard because he's now living on half of what they used to yet he still pays out the same in all the rates, utilities, insurance etc and also now has the added expense of petrol visiting Mum every day. He does 12 hours of driving a week and clocks up over 500kms per week.

Olly

 

[want2bewealthy]

Had a look at Centrelink website under 'Retirements' & 'who can get an Age Pension' (cant get link to work sorry ) - cant see a cut off year though?

Shows qualifying ages & I guess they will keep changing but cant see anywhere there saying if you are born after 19XX you won't qualify at all?

Cheers
Stella

Yea I cant seem to find it either?

Its common knowledge to financial planners Ive been through and also my accountant.

Plus Ive heard it on the news and read it a few times.

 

[wish-ga]

Well. Ye-es we should all be responsible about money. But, recent generations had much more information available through the media and differing attitudes to discussing money among peers.

Living through the depression or being a child of depression era parents is a massive influence. A friend's parents are suspicious of banks because during the depression people with money in the banks had a proportion taken away. (12%?)

A bank teller friend told me some pensioners withdraw their entire pension. To the cent. For fear they won't get the full amount next time.

The society we grow up in has a big influence. It isn't really a level playing field to compare across generations.

 

[Skye]

A lot of these pensioners went to war for our country. Financial advice was not as readily accessible in their day, and their families were larger. Many current Government bonuses and concessions were also not available back then. Families typically had a sole wage-earner. I say at least maintain the pension to a point where some quality of life can be maintained. We'll all be elderly one day, if we're lucky.

 

[wylie]

A lot of these pensioners went to war for our country. Financial advice was not as readily accessible in their day, and their families were larger. Many current Government bonuses and concessions were also not available back then. Families typically had a sole wage-earner. I say at least maintain the pension to a point where some quality of life can be maintained. We'll all be elderly one day, if we're lucky.

My dad is 75 and was too young to go to war, so the ones who did go are older than 75 by my reckoning. My old neighbour is 88 and went to war in her late teens I think. She was born 1919 so when war broke out she would have been still very young.

I know there are carers who cannot contribute to super, and women who were not allowed to work (let alone even think of super), and all the other people who have not been able to save or plan through no fault of their own.

But there are plenty in my parents age group (in their 70's) who didn't go to war, where the women went to work part time once the kids were in school who have all been hearing about having to save for a comfortable retirement, but who haven't.

It is these who I believe should take some responsibility. There will be millions of people much younger who also do not save. Goodness knows how we will pay all the pensions into the future.

 

[twobobsworth]

My grand parents are in their mid 80's, both on the pension. They just bought a 50" plasma. I doubt we'll see it on ACA.

 

[Mr. Fabulous]

It isn't really a level playing field to compare across generations.

Life isn't really a level playing field wish-ga. Much as most people want to live in a fairy tale world where everyone is equal, it's just not like that. You either play the game or you get played. Harsh but true.

 

[dave99]

Yea I cant seem to find it either?

Its common knowledge to financial planners Ive been through and also my accountant.

Plus Ive heard it on the news and read it a few times.

Everyone 65 and over who lives in Australia, and who has less than a certain level of income and assets, can get the pension. There is no "cutoff year". Women born before 1949 can even get it a bit before 65.

I think on the news they allude to the prospect of a future government cutting the pension off to some people. This may well happen, but as of now, everyone is eligible.

Overall, I think that now we have compulsory super, the importance of the pension will lessen. People's super balances are tiny now, because it only started a few decades ago. When people retire in 2030, most will have a full 40 years of 9% contributions to fund the bulk of retirement, with perhaps a pension top-up.

 

[Perp]

My grand parents are in their mid 80's, both on the pension. They just bought a 50" plasma. I doubt we'll see it on ACA.

My grandparents are 90 and 91. They owned their own home before recently moving into a nursing home. They raised 3 kids on a modest single income, and retired on a full pension plus a little bit of super. They still run a car. (Whether he should be driving or not is another matter! ) A couple of years ago, when Pop was in hospital, my Mum was running their finances for them. (Nanna has never carried a purse, signed a cheque, or paid for anything in her life!) Nanna asked Mum if they had enough money in their account for her to buy a new skirt. They had $85,000 in their cheque account!

They don't live lavishly, but as I say, they run a car, they eat out at least a couple of times a week, and don't go without. It's possible to live quite well. I don't know that I would find it easy, but they've proved it's possible.

 

[BayView]

my dad is 55 and believes he will get the pension at 70 when he retires.

i keep warning him but he won't listen.

there will always be a pension, but whether it relates to current living costs is another matter.

Why would anyone consciously plan to get the pension?

It is at best a pathetic existence.

Plan to get rich and to hell with the pension.

 

[Perp]

Plan to get rich and to hell with the pension.

Couldn't agree more! Many of my parents' friends "commiserate" with them when they discover that my parents don't have, and are unlikely to ever get, an aged pension card. As my Mum says to me "they don't seem to understand that getting a pension card has never been one of my life's goals, actually!"

 

[LynnH]

I agree wholeheartedly with LAAussie and ozperp!

I used to help my dear old Dad with the paperwork involved with getting a miniscule pension ($10-odd per fortnight, from memory - he did have superannuation) - what a nightmare!

As LAAussie says - get rich and to hell with the pension - if for no other reason than to avoid the paperwork!!

Cheers
LynnH

 

[Mr. Fabulous]

Why would anyone consciously plan to get the pension?

Entitlement mentality. As in "I worked all my life, I paid my taxes, I deserve to get the pension!"

We've had a few situations where people have come in to see us and we've shown them options where they can have a very tidy income, but it means no pension eligibility. They decide not to go ahead with any planning, because 'I don't want to lose my pension and health care card'.

Mark

 

[wish-ga]

Service didn't end with WWII. Australians served in Vietnam, Gulf and more recent. And I believe a friend's dad served in Korea. Or am I watching too many M*A*S*H reruns? Case of confabulation?

Life isn't really a level playing field wish-ga.

Yeah, that was my point. I wasn't flinging fairy dust in the hopes of a level playing field. More a statement that it isn't.

It seemed some posters felt put upon that today's pensioners haven't achieved what the boomers and beyond have. I think that is unrealistic. And fairy dust has been outlawed on most playing fields anyways. It went the way of rice at weddings. too much mess. Apparently.

 

[moyjos]

My parents have their own home and a smsf and are doing ok. BUT dad still "does the paperwork" to keep a tiny pension. why? because that pension card is worth real $$$ the rebates off telephone, rates, rego, etc etc etc.

They use their pension card for everything they card (to the point of being a bit tight about it) He uses the rego discount for the most expensive rego each year (usually the winnibago when they have one or the 4wd when theyhave a caravan - they upgrade the thing every 2 yeras or so)

He has actaully helped friends GET a pension card for the benefits.
I guess, as with anything, it is each to their own.


My inlaws, on the otherhand, live day to day on the pension (own their own home too) and do OK manage to run a 10y.o car (which gets upgraded to another 10yo car every 2-3 years) eat well, go to the movies once most weeks and eat at the RSL twice a week. (Mum reckons she has not cooked a roast in the 6 or so years Dad has been retired ) Dad was a blue collar worker and Mum a home maker and she reckons they have MORE money now than they did when Dad was working and they had a mortgage. As mentioned in my previous post, it is just the revaluing of land in previous lower cost places and rates jumping massively (you just can't budget for a tripling of rates in one year )

Neither of my parents complain about the pension, I just can't see why there is so much rebate on just about every other thing in their lives EXCEPT rates.
Like Mum said, if they sold and rented they would get rent assistance, but there is no incentive to own your own home. Not so much a complaint as an observation.

Cheers
Sue

 

[Rixter]

The pension unfortunately is the "gold watch" reward for a life time of 40/40 Club membership.

95% of the population subscribe by default.

For those who havent yet heard of the 40/40 Club membership = working 40 hours per week for 40 years of their life only to hopefully having their home paid off and out live any small amount of superannuation they may have accumulated along the way, only to fall back onto the welfare & pension system.

 

[natmarie73]

My grand parents are in their mid 80's, both on the pension. They just bought a 50" plasma. I doubt we'll see it on ACA.

Sounds like my mum. She whinges non stop about how little the pension is, and how they take some of her Australian pension away because she gets the Dutch pension as well and the exchange rate always works in Centrelink's favour. Meanwhile, she is going on 3 month long holidays to Canada, Russia and China as well as within Australia, buys new computers and camera gear every year and is planning a cruise to Antarctica later this (or next) year.

She lives way better than I do and dosn't seem to realise that her nest egg won't last forever. How she will maintain her champagne lifestyle on the pension alone stumps me. She is very lucky in comparison to some pensioners, but still finds something to whinge about.

She has some money invested from the sale of her house and is always complaining about how Centrelink want to know every tiny detail about her finances. If one thing makes me more determined than ever to not get a pension it is the amount of paperwork and reporting Centrelink make you do to ensure you are actually entitled to the pension - no thanks!

 

[BayView]

Service didn't end with WWII. Australians served in Vietnam, Gulf and more recent. And I believe a friend's dad served in Korea. Or am I watching too many M*A*S*H reruns? Case of confabulation?



Yeah, that was my point. I wasn't flinging fairy dust in the hopes of a level playing field. More a statement that it isn't.

It seemed some posters felt put upon that today's pensioners haven't achieved what the boomers and beyond have. I think that is unrealistic. And fairy dust has been outlawed on most playing fields anyways. It went the way of rice at weddings. too much mess. Apparently.

I am more than happy for pensioners to get their pension - if they deserve it and have paid their dues to our great Country.

All the workers, the servicemen and women, and the legitimately incapacitiated - good luck to them and I am proud to pay my share for their comfort in retirement.

What I don't get is how people aspire to get a pension in retirement, when they can easily organise their own wealth and live far better from their investments - especially property; as we all know.

 

[wylie]

I agree with L.A. I have no issue with people deserving the pension getting it

I do have a problem with people who have not given a thought to putting money aside. I am not talking about veterans, but people like my parents friends who survive on the pension because they spent every penny on clothes, cigarettes and having a good time.

I don't understand how an elderly friend who is 88 gets considerably more freebies because she married (in her 60's) a war vet. Vet Affairs look after her very, very well. She married her husband in her 60's and he passed away within two years. For the past 25 or so years since then, she has received lots of free services, over and above what she would have received had she just been on a normal pension.

She was in the WAF herself, but because she didn't leave Australia (was not able to anyway under the rules back then - women generally served within Australia - except nurses I believe) she is not entitled to Vet Affairs pension herself. I actually think this is unfair. I also believe men who didn't serve overseas don't get as much benefit as those who did. All men who signed up apparently were available to serve overseas, so they should all be entitled to the same benefits. It is not their fault they were not sent overseas.

I also get frustrated with those who are on a disability pension, but who are not really disabled, and who could get a job if they weren't paid so well to sit around. And, yes, I do know a couple of these people.

And what about the people who are living in a three bedroom housing commission house when their children have long gone, while families cannot get a place.

Life is unfair, but it doesn't mean we cannot get frustrated.