Open to Australians aged 67 or older, the scheme has an interest rate of just 3.95% – which hasn’t changed in more than three years.
Articles on age pension
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Try this calculator to see if you will have enough super to retire comfortably.
Up to one-quarter of age pensioners may be affected by changes in the way interest income is calculated.
Emperor Augustus’ scheme for retired soldiers paid a decent sum after 25 years, so retirement age could be as young as 42 while they were still strong and healthy.
As more Australians enter retirement with a mortgage, decisions about the family home become crucial. What are your options?
Australians have been told for decades that they’re not saving enough for retirement. But the vast majority of retirees today and in future are likely to be financially comfortable.
Five million homes have two or more spare bedrooms. What’s needed are rules to clarify the pension and tax implications of taking in boarders, and matching services that offer protections.
The Institute of Public Affairs says 425,000 more Australians are on welfare than in 2018, but it has double-counted some Australians and left out others.
Australian age pensioners who earn more than $227 a week from paid work lose two-thirds of it in tax and pension cuts. If we adopted NZ’s approach, we could have an extra 500,000 willing workers.
The latest Intergenerational Report shows Australia less old than it was going to be, but poorer. And eventually needing to pay more tax.
Lifting Australia’s retirement age happened with little protest. But it hits some more than others: especially Indigenous men and women, and tens of thousands of older people pushed onto JobSeeker.
Managing expectations before a budget is always tricky. Two committees are making this especially so for Treasurer Jim Chalmers ahead of his second budget.
Michelle Grattan and Mike Callaghan discuss the government's change to super, the complexities regarding it, and whether young people should be able to access it for a house deposit
Many of the 2.5 million Australian retirees on the age pension would like to work, but only a fraction do – partly because it can mean losing some of their pension.
Depending on circumstances, it may be time to re-think the bias to paying down housing debt over wealth accumulation in super. At least to do the sums, so you can make an informed choice.
The government’s retirement incomes review should concentrate on boosting rent assistance and Newstart and fixing the pension assets test. These would achieve more than boosting super.
All that would be needed is to adjust retiree tax scales and tax their super fund earnings at their marginal rate.
Super is inefficient, costly and directs money where it isn’t needed. There’s a way out.
No single super contribution rate suits everyone, and there’s only a clear case for an increase if there’s no age pension.
Retires who don’t own their homes do awfully out of the pension. Here’s a way to rebalance it.
Top contributors
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Senior Research Associate, International Centre for Future Health Systems, UNSW, UNSW
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Program Director, Housing and Economic Security, Grattan Institute
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Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
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Professiorial Fellow, The University of Melbourne
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Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
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Emeritus Professor of Housing and Housing Studies, RMIT University
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John Curtin Distinguished Professor, Curtin University
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Associate Professor, POLIS@ANU Centre for Social Policy Research, Australian National University
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Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
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Associate Professor in the UNSW Business School, UNSW
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Chief executive officer, Grattan Institute
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Associate, Grattan Institute
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Director, POLIS: The ANU Centre for Social Policy Research, Australian National University
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Adjunct Professor, Curtin Law School and Curtin Business School, Curtin University
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Professor and Head of the Department of Banking and Finance, Monash University