The perks of being a retiree: What exactly are you entitled to?

Retiring is something everyone does. Some of us do it with fabulous plans in place to grey nomad or explore the world, some of us do it with an excitement to just sit, stop and smell the roses and some of us do it with plans to continue investing as much time as possible into the lives of your kids and grandkids. But, no matter how we do it, we all do it. And, sometimes we don’t plan it out as much as we would like. But, as retirees and older members of Australian society there are some things we are entitled to and deservedly so. After 65-odd years of working hard and contributing to society and the economy in multiple ways it’s time to enjoy getting something back, so here is what we are 100% entitled to when we retire…

Superannuation

The good news about super is that if you wait until you reach the golden age of 60 to withdraw funds, it is all tax free (Yippee!). You can choose to have your super given to you as a lump sum or if you are with a fund that can do so, you can treat it like a pension and have a payment plan set up to give you X amount of money every fortnight/week/month. The pension delivery mode of super is a great way to have a continuous, tax free income for those who aren’t eligible for the pension.

Healthcare

Once you have reached pension age, you can also apply for a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card if you meet their eligibility requirements (meet an income test, meet resident requirements and don’t qualify for other assistance schemes). This card gives you access to more cost effective medical services and treatments including;

• Cheaper prescriptions
• Bulk-billed GP visits
• Free vaccinations
• Free cancer screenings (bowel, breast, prostate and pap smears)
• Free annual health assessments for those aged 75 and over (55 and over for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders)

Although not everyone is eligible for these discounts, it is highly beneficial to find out if you are. Healthcare costs continue to rise so any discounts are important.

Public Transport

Having a seniors card is fantastic as it gives you hugely discounted public transport rates. It will again vary from state to state but the discounts are regulated nationally so you will be guaranteed to get a good price for a bus, ferry, train or tram trip. The seniors concession is lower than all others so you can enjoy the best fare.

Pensions

The pension is something that many of us look forward to… Heck, even those of us who claimed most of the super on the 60th Birthday decided to life a wild, passionate and carefree life in the five years before pension eligibility still look forward to it.

Although, like most things to do with the Australian government, it is awfully difficult to actually get the pension. To be eligible for the pension, there is a long process of means testing that we must go through before it can be accessed. The means testing usually includes; an income and assets test, a core assets test (not including the family home) and a review of all current and previous welfare payments from the government.

It is also important to note that age eligibility for the pension isn’t as straightforward as it should be and depending on when you were born, you may or may not be deemed eligible. You can follow the following rules to find out:

• Women born before 1 January 1949 are eligible at 64
• Women born between 1January 1949 and 30 June 1952 are eligible at 65
• Men born before 1 July 1952 are eligible at 65

If you believe that you’re eligible, you can then lodge an intent to claim through the Australian Government Department of Human Services. Make sure you have all necessary documents like passports, identification, bank statements, superannuation statements, healthcare statements and anything else ready to go when you lodge your intent to claim.

But, don’t get too excited thinking you can enjoy fancy free living, because the maximum pension payments are not that high. A single personal can receive a maximum of $751 a fortnight and a couple can each receive $566 per person a fortnight.

Seniors Card

The seniors card is great as it provides people with a whole range of benefits. But they do vary from state to state as they are regulated by state organisations. Depending on where you live the age eligibility is 60 or 65. The great discounts on entertainment, food, shopping and travel that it can give you can all be looked up on the websites. To take a look at another article giving instructions on how to find your best deals, click here.

Lower-rate bank accounts

Something that isn’t always advertised are the lower-rate bank accounts just for seniors. If you are a retiree or seniors card holder, you can have access to a range of bank accounts that provide you with no or low bank fees, exemptions from withdrawal fees and a whole host of benefits that are suited to seniors. To find out if your bank offers solutions for seniors, head into your local branch and ask.

So there you have it, we can enjoy the good life (that we deserve!) with these benefits. While we all would love more financial support or higher pension, it’s nice to know that we have some support when seniors in other parts of the world have none.

What has been the best perk of being a senior? What have you enjoyed in retirement? Tell us in the comments below…