http://www.centrelink.gov.au/

Dear Plan B..



You must have missed the part in my post where I said I had searched the Centrelink site from top to bottom.. maybe you need a Plan C.. or your brain is out to lunch..

Please people.. serious replies only...

Dear Plan B..



You must have missed the part in my post where I said I had searched the Centrelink site from top to bottom.. maybe you need a Plan C.. or your brain is out to lunch..

Please people.. serious replies only...



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Very sorry Gaz--I was in a rush at the time --but I think your manners are out to lunch--I came back to check if you had other advise and see if I could give more help but since you are so darn rude you can go whistle. that is he last time I will even bother.

I agree with PlanB - your manners are out to lunch, but I did research. The aged pension age in Australia is 65, for a man. If you have private- ie super contributions, you may qualify earlier, with a discount. Hope you have a lovely life - wherever you are. Manners cost nothing, except your effort.

Dear Plan B..



You must have missed the part in my post where I said I had searched the Centrelink site from top to bottom.. maybe you need a Plan C.. or your brain is out to lunch..

Please people.. serious replies only...



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i can understand the frustration that Gazinbali is feeling,



i thought at least i would get some unbiased answers and all i got was drongo's quoting the bible (thanks Bazinbali i really needed the link to watchtower, i do not need divine help but humane help) and others not wreading what i wrote correctly, even at these peoples age they still are a few shillings short of a quid, what a waste of my time, there are no bigger fools than old fools.

Posted by Wheely:- I’m in a similar situation as Gazinbali (early Old Age Pension).



Wow had no idea some people do not have to wait until 65 to receive the age pension?

Why are some so lucky while others have to wait? Many widows on Newstart would

love to know as some here 60 - old age pension age would love to know how that works?

Why then can some access the Age pension early?



Sounds like you have a good life being able to travel Wheelie. Your wife has you

as her family now maybe needs to live with you or why marry at all.

I think it says in the bible "A wife should cling to her husband" or something to

that effect. A long way away to cling to you .

There is no such situation. You have to wait for the correct pension age, there is no early age pension. If you are disabled like wheelie you would be on the disability pension, and stay on it until you reach pension age(this I know because I have a relative in that position).

I'll just say a quick hello, I joined up today.

There appears to be no early start on the Age pension, I'm on the Disability Allowance and spend a lot of time out of the country.

Currently I have to return every 13 weeks and would certainly accept a reduced aged pension as I would recoup any loss on air fare savings.

At 61 and considered unemployable I really can't see why they bother, what difference does it make if I'm in Australia or out of the country?

While I dont necessarily agree with the rationale, I understand that Centrelink (or the government) feel that as they are paying the pension, they want to make sure that it is spent in Australia to bolster our economy.

A surprisingly high number of pensioners from developed countries are now moving to poorer countries where their pensions have much greater buying power. For example, I could move to say, Thailand and live VERY comfortably on my Australian pension with food, utilities, transport, rent etc., etc, only a fraction of the cost of similar items in Australia. The same can be said of many Asian and other "third world" countries.

While I dont necessarily agree with the rationale, I understand that Centrelink (and so the government) feel that as they are paying the pension, they want to ensure that the money is spent in Australia to benefit OUR economy.

A surprisingly high number of pensioners from developed countries are now choosing to live in some Asian and other "third world" countries where there pension money has far greater buying power.

For example, I could live in Thailand on an Australian pension where things like food, utilities, rent, vehicle running costs, medical etc., etc are VERY MUCH cheaper than in Australia. My quality of life there would be far better than here in Australia on the same money. The same can be said of Malaysia, the Philippines and many other countries.

The government is building disincentives into pension payments to make this alternative lifestyle less attractive.

Appears things are happening, a friend emailed me this today, no link, she must have typed it from the Sunday paper.



PENSIONER JETSETTERS



Loophole to close



A loophole in welfare laws has been allowing hundreds of disability support pensioners to use their pensions to travel overseas most of the year and keep second homes in popular South-East Asian holiday destinations.



The jet-setting lives of 776 disability support pensioners were discovered by a joint Centrelink and Department of Immigration investigation which found many were taking up to nine overseas trips a year.



The study uncovered 154 gold-class frequent flyers who spent at least 44 weeks a year overseas.

Of these, 71 spent less than a month in Australia and there were eight who might be described as

fly-in, fly-out pensioners, who spent only a week a year in Australia.



The loophole allows disability support pensioners to keep claiming the pension, which is now more than $700 a fortnight, if they return to Australia once every 13 weeks.



Thailand and the Philippines were the top locations for welfare recipients living in second homes overseas.



In both countries, $700 a fortnight is considered a small fortune and much more than the earnings of many people working full time.



Three-quarters of the destinations in the travel records from the 2008-2009 financial year were in South-East Asia.



Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin said the Federal Government would close the loophole that allows the 154 worst offenders to spend the majority of their time overseas, while costing taxpayers $3 million a year.



Centrelink will monitor DSP recipients who take more than three overseas trips a year to ensure they comply with new rules requiring that Australia be their principal place of residence.

I can imagine many of you thinking "these aweful geriatric "jetsetters" are ripping off the system, but having a Thai wife who has a home there, I can tell you that in most cases, this would not be the case. I try to go to Thailand at least once a year and spend a couple of months so that my wife can see her elderly mother and catch up with friends and relatives. We have declared her home to Centrelink with an HONEST estimated value of $18000 Australian (its not the "Taj Mahal"). We have to budget very carefully to save the airfare and to get full value, tend to stay as long as we can reasonably afford.

At my wifes home, electricity and water combined costs about $14 per month, there are no council rates and Thai's dont bother with home insurance. Fuel costs about the same, but annual registration of a car is about $120. At the local shopping centre (equivalent to Westfield), I can go to the food court and get a very tasty and nourishing meal for about $2 ..... much cheaper if we cook ourselves. Most evenings, if you want fast food, you eat the chicken that was hardest to catch.

So, what might appear to be a rip-off to some, might (to others) just be sensible pensioners getting the best value they can from their government benefits.

I think I'll start a new topic on this, it raises a few points that I believe warrant it.