maximise your retirement entitlements

Don’t miss out on key retirement benefits. Jeremy Houghton, Institutional Partnerships at Retirement Essentials, helps retirees work out what they could claim, what they might be overlooking, and how to get the support they need.

When it comes to retirement, entitlements is a term we hear a lot. But it can also be misunderstood.

Many people believe that retirement entitlements are confined to government benefits, like the Age Pension and the associated Pension Concession Card. But there are many other benefits on offer to older Australians.

HESTA partner Retirement Essentials offers a handy checklist that you can review now, file for later, or share with a friend.

Age Pension entitlements

Yes, this refers to a full or part Age Pension and the Pension Concession Card. But Age Pension entitlements also include the Pension Supplement, Energy Supplement and Rent Assistance.

The process to apply for an Age Pension can be quite onerous.

HESTA has partnered with Retirement Essentials to help make the application process quicker and easier for you.

A good place to start is with the free Age Pension Entitlements Calculator to get an idea of what you may be entitled to. That way, you’re fully across the kind of information you’ll be asked to provide, as well as how likely you are to be eligible.

If the calculator confirms you’re likely to be eligible, or close, the next step is to assemble all the necessary information. 

What do you need to prove?

Details can vary, but in essence, Centrelink will want to see:

• personal information, including proof of birth date, citizenship, residency in other countries, and identity, including (if you have one) a Centrelink Customer Reference Number (CRN) and a tax file number (TFN)
• proof of income, like pay slips, company earnings statements, tax returns and/or notices of assessment, severance payments, foreign income and/or superannuation details
• proof of income from assets, which may include bank account statements, investment and property returns.

Commonwealth Seniors Health Card

In recent years, the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) has become available to a high proportion of self-funded retirees in Australia, based on the increased income threshold of $99,025 for singles and $158,440 for couples (combined).

Many retirees are unaware of this increased availability, and that there is no assets test. Others just ‘haven’t got around’ to applying yet.

This can be a great money saver when it comes to medical services and pharmaceuticals, as well as a range of other benefits depending upon where you reside. 

What type of documentation do you need for a CSHC?

Happily, the list of documentation for the CSHC is not quite as long as it is for those seeking an Age Pension. Again, however, you will need to cover the same broad areas of proof, such as:

• personal information, including passport, citizenship, overseas residence, Centrelink Customer Reference Number, and a tax file number
• income, including a tax return or notice of assessment, evidence of pension drawings and member statements regardless of whether your super is in an industry, retail or self-managed super fund
• bank account details.

Other benefits

There are even more entitlements to claim through state-issued seniors cards. 

Benefits include travel and transport discounts, cinema discounts and some pharmaceutical benefits.

Certain travel organisations will encourage mid-week seniors visits, while some supermarkets, optometrists and hearing specialists also offer discounts to those aged 60 and over. But remember, you’ll need to speak up to claim them.

Tips and traps

There are quite a few ‘oopsies’ that can occur with entitlements. Many people have a MyGov account and number, but not everyone has a linked Centrelink Customer Reference Number (CRN). It’s helpful if you’ve gone to the trouble of creating this before you start dealing with Centrelink, as it’s sure to shorten the process for you.

For Age Pension and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card purposes, it’s also useful to know that Centrelink requires original documents for your date of birth. If you don’t have a passport, this means an original birth certificate (not an extract of entry).

Partner status is also important. For example, a recent Retirement Essentials client had just married his partner. They had been in a relationship for many years, although each lived in their separate family homes. In Centrelink’s eyes, this makes one of these houses an investment property and the new spouse was technically not ‘single’ while receiving a single Age Pension payment. This client and his new wife are now facing a very difficult discussion with Centrelink and they could be made to repay funds. Sadly, this was probably avoidable, but they simply didn’t understand the ‘fine print’.

How can Retirement Essentials help you?

Circumstances vary enormously for older Australians. Some have substantial savings and are well-supported by financial professionals, such as accountants and planners.

But that doesn’t mean it’s not helpful to have an independent source of information, updates and reminders in your email inbox every week, letting you know of any changes or possible strategies that may be of use. It’s worth checking the Retirement Essentials weekly e-newsletters to ensure you’re up to date.

The majority of retirees and pre-retirees will need to interact with government services well before they retire. Retirement Essentials provides a suite of affordable, bite-sized advice consultations covering topics like:

• Age Pension application support
• Commonwealth Seniors Health Card application
• Retirement forecasting (Compare two scenarios of how your assets and income will look during your retirement journey)
• Understanding more about super (Assess the options to help make your super work better for you).
• Maximising your entitlements (Assess any changes you might be able to make to maximise your Centrelink entitlements)
• Understand impacts of your home mortgage (Look at the benefits of repaying or maintaining your mortgage in retirement).