However, I am not in your situation and have no pertinent experience to draw on.
My only advice would be, as you appear to have done, is to firstly talk to the Financial Services Officer at CenterLink. My experience has been that these officers are well trained and informative. I have heard from others that the FSO has generally shown a fair bit of "independence" in their advice - they don't just push the "government line" but listen and try to actually assist in your own circumstances.
Given you have/had a business, how good is your accountant. I would like to think they could assist. Although, over the times I have had my own businesses, I have found 'creative' accountants are a bit like hen's teeth
Best of luck and I hope it all works out.
Cheers - John
-- Edited by rockylizard on Wednesday 1st of August 2012 12:06:19 PM
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2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE Auto - 2008 23ft Golden Eagle Hunter Some people feel the rain - the others just get wet - Bob Dylan
As you all know hubby and i have everything up for sale so we are in a sticky situation if the
Business sells first then we have to delve into the money as self funded retirees and pay off
750 a week repayments ,we are worried this will of course deplete our money till the home is sold
I am told if we had no money i would be eligable for a disability pension and graeme
A carers pension
So if we sold the business first would we be better to pay off our home and then put the
Rest in the bank its all so hard i am trying to get an appointment with centrelink so we can
Get some advice but what intrigues me is does anyone out there own there home and be
Eligable for a pension when there money runs out surely we are not going to be let starve
Weve worked all our lives and its bloody madness trying to figure out how to do this the right wAy
If you dont wish to disclose anything on here please feel free to pm me my lips are sealed
I think once we go to see centrelink things may seem a bit clearer lets hope
In the meantime im doing as much research asvi can on the subject
Like John I'm not in your situation Della but have had a bit of experience in similiar situations. I have owned my own home and been on a pension so yes you can. Also with the high interest rates that will be eating away at your capital my advice would be to pay of any debts with the sale of your business. You will get it back with the sale of your house later. Yes you should be able to get a disability pension and Graeme should be able to get a carers allowance. I am on a Disability pension and also get a carers allowance for looking after my son here. There are another couple nearby where the husband is disabled from a work injury and his wife gets the carers allowance.
Hope that info helps you a bit with any decisions you need to make.
you are doing the right thing seeing the FSO at centerlink, these guys do not work for CL, when you see them ask about your super, or the money from your buisness sale, you maybe able to open a super account with the money from the buisness sale but make sure it is in a anuinty account , that way CL will not take it into account when assesining your income.
I would have thought the accountant would be the 1st port of call, after all that is their business and profession and they do work for YOU and nobody else.
I am in the process of selling my business and retiring and my accountant has given mE surprisingly good news, regarding how to arrange everything, especially capital gains tax (which is not applicable on retirement), superannuation and financial arrangements.
My situation is probably vastly different to yours Della, as I do own several properties but the tax and offset options and advice was invauable and very pleasing.
We have been to a taxation lady and yes if we got good money for the business we were told because graeme is 55 he s eligable To be a self funded retiree and would be able to get a carers pension for me as its not means tested but because we owe over 400 thousand on our home and also have a rental property which we have to throw a hundred a week at to cover the bank costs ,so We kind of realize we would have to sell the rental for starters whichwould not worry us ,but its delving into our sale of business Money that worries us because the money will dissapear real quickly .
I think i might ring centrelink and see what they say to do is best then we know where we stand,someone said i would also Probably have to be assesed by a centrelink doctor to get a disability pension im only 51 but others say no you only need twodoctors certificates to state you need to have quality of life now that this melanoma has reared its ugly self twice so that will be interesting too.
Thank you for your input and ill make graeme take a day off so we can go together and see how we go im just wondering if we had money in the bank like say 100,000 and our own home would we still be eligable so ill keep u posted once we have done so
Hi Glassies I'm just repeating what has already been posted above, see the Centrelink financial advisor, your accountant, and possibly an independant financial advisor, I think you will be very surprised at all the help that is available if you qualify but its no good guessing, or listening to what others say. When you do see an advisor, you will need to have an idea just what your assets and liabilities are, so that so they can give you the advice you need to make ongoing plans. Just remember that in Australia the worst thing that can happen is that you live in your caravan at the beach and go fishing and swimming every day. Cheers David
Ohhh ! Glassies, you two need and deserve a much better run than what your getting ? My situation is different to yours as I am nearing retirement age [ 18 months] and I do own my own home, and also have a decent ''nest egg'' I feared the nest egg would interfere with my pension ??? So i had a meeting with Centrelink financul officer, Do not be afraid to go and see them, I was a little ?? BUT i walked out of there feeling pretty good with the advice they gave me. they do work with you. and show you everything that you are ''legally allowed to do ?
So take Wombats advice ??? set up a meeting and they will '' set the story straight'' as per your personal circumstances ??
Before I went there i thought my best option, was to sell the house, put all my money into a hole in the ground, keep just enough to buy a small boat, destroy all my paperwork, and then putt,putt, up to Xmas Island and claim refugee status, But they showed me that i do not need to go to those extremes,
Roving dutchy wrote ???? --------------------------I think he was right on the mark ??
Just remember that in Australia the worst thing that can happen is that you live in your caravan at the beach and go fishing and swimming every day Cheers David .
yep weve just had a broker here today looking at the business not so sure if we will go that way yet and they didnt tell us what they take either ,so we shall be making an appointment for centrelink i think that is the best bet and then we will know from there.
thank you all so much for you input its been a great help it is inspiring for others to say yes go to centrelink and see someone ,we too thought the same go out as self funded retirees and then claim we spent it all too soon and need a pension but we shall see what happens
Hi Glassies, we own our home and receive a pension. I think you are allowed to have up to $4oo,ooo in the bank and if you end up with more they just reduce the pension amount. They are very helpful at Centrelink so best to check there.
My experience with Centre Link (or whatever their current name is) has been in the age pension area.
I found them to be extremely helpful & anxious to ensure that you get the maximum entitlement.
Be honest with them .. they have lots of data matching technology available to them these days & can easily detect omissions & furpies.
I expcet that you will be plesantly surprised at the assistance available.
I note that most financial advisers consistently advise that you should retire debt on things that don't generate offsetting income or capital growth. The family home is generally not considered as an 'asset' for centrelink purposes but investment property is. BUT DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT .. SEE C/L OR A PROFESSIONAL ADVISOR THAT YOU TRUST.
When considering your investment property, remember that capital gains tax is applicable on this property, that's where your accountant will need to be consulted as the tax is 25% of any upward increase in value, in other words if you paid $300,000 and it's now worth $400,000, your tax liability is $25,000...the option of retaining the property or selling it depends on the pro's and con's and what it means to you in cold hard cash.
On retirement a business is generally not subject to CGT, however that is at retirement age, so you also need to clarify this point as it is extremely important to you.
I think i might ring centrelink and see what they say to do is best then we know where we stand,someone said i would also Probably have to be assesed by a centrelink doctor to get a disability pension im only 51 but others say no you only need twodoctors certificates to state you need to have quality of life now that this melanoma has reared its ugly self twice so that will be interesting too.
I can't advise on the money side Della, but I've been on a Disability Pension for 11 years...I was 47. Unless they've changed the way they do things, Centrelink will give you 2 lots of forms, one for you to fill in, and one for your doctor and/or Specialist to fill in. They will probably want to set up an appointment with their health person..not necessarily a doctor...and all of this takes time, so go sooner rather than later. Good luck.
I think i might ring centrelink and see what they say to do is best then we know where we stand,someone said i would also Probably have to be assesed by a centrelink doctor to get a disability pension im only 51 but others say no you only need twodoctors certificates to state you need to have quality of life now that this melanoma has reared its ugly self twice so that will be interesting too.
I can't advise on the money side Della, but I've been on a Disability Pension for 11 years...I was 47. Unless they've changed the way they do things, Centrelink will give you 2 lots of forms, one for you to fill in, and one for your doctor and/or Specialist to fill in. They will probably want to set up an appointment with their health person..not necessarily a doctor...and all of this takes time, so go sooner rather than later. Good luck.
Agree with Beth, thats exactly what happened with me only 2 years ago. 2 forms, one for you and one for the doc. They have their own health person, took 3 visits before I was finished and they put me on disability.
Hi Glassies, I am in a similar situation to you. Im on a disabilities pension and own about 95% of my home in Perth. When I first went to Albany I rented my house out through an agent. C/L was ok with that. I thought I could rent it out For 2 Years but it is only allowed for 1yr. C/L was great. For that year the income from the house was offset against mort, insurances &agent fees so I ended up with what amounted to a full pension. (I forgot to mention I also was able to get rent assistance for the Caravan Park I was in). Anyway... after the year was up, they decreased my pension to $100. pf. (thats when I found out I could only rent it for 1 yr) CL had a valuation done on the house and as it was valued at more that what was allowed, my pension was affected. My son now lives with me in the house which is great cause it also gives me the chance to do what I wanted 18months ago and that was to travel. Having a blood relative living in your house is not seen as income therfore its not seen as an asset. I like to sleep at night and be able to look any agency in the eye so Im not into trying the system so have done what was asked of me and I feel good about what ive done. As far as tax goes...I lost 2 investment properties in my divorce settlement and tax wasz sorted through the agent....a necessary evil that just has to be paid. If I could have kept one I would have as the value of them was much less than my home. Anyway thats just happened and I'm now housesitting in Albany and getting ready to go. Hope this has helped in some way.
Ohhh ! Glassies, you two need and deserve a much better run than what your getting ? My situation is different to yours as I am nearing retirement age [ 18 months] and I do own my own home, and also have a decent ''nest egg'' I feared the nest egg would interfere with my pension ??? So i had a meeting with Centrelink financul officer, Do not be afraid to go and see them, I was a little ?? BUT i walked out of there feeling pretty good with the advice they gave me. they do work with you. and show you everything that you are ''legally allowed to do ?
