UNEMPLOYMENT benefits have been more than doubled for six months, but the Government is adamant they will return to Scrooge proportions after that. What should really happen in six months' time?
THE Banking Royal Commission continues to do good. From 1 July 2020, reverse mortgages will have to be marketed responsibly and ethically. Whether the best-interest test will weed out any remaining spivs is debatable, but the regulation of home equity release will certainly improve.
IF you receive home care, it is important to be aware of how the staff coming to your house deal with the coronavirus infection risk.
THE demands and pressures of the here and now may seem, and perhaps are more pressing than those of a distant future, but leaving your super alone if you can is the best strategy.
IT'S not advisable but you can record your last will in many peculiar ways without it becoming invalid.
Australia seems to be headed towards an authoritarian form of social security with the Government telling people on a payment what they can buy and where they can buy it. A bit of cash pocket money is all they'll get. And the Minister for Social Services stubbornly refuses to rule out that Age Pensioners will maintain their current exemption.
A quick guide for pensioners and self-funded retirees to the Australian Government's stimulus measures announced in March 2020.
The Age Pension used to be indexed on the basis of wage growth, but wages have stopped growing. Casual employment rules these days and pay rates are miserly.
Aged care available when you need it? Is this is a dream or could it really happen? The Aged Care Royal Commission thinks it should.
PLANS to put out a public tender for aged care assessment services have been binned after pressure from the Royal Commission and state and territory health ministers.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has announced new elder abuse guidelines for GPs.
How do you get an annual return of 4 to 5 per cent on your savings and how do you get 40 per cent of your savings exempted from pension means teasting? Read all about it.
The biggest issue in residential aged care is staffing. Nursing home providers are against mandatory staff ratios, but unions and every right-thinking community group in Australia are in favor. Counsel Assisting the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety is siding with the latter in his recommendations to the Commissioners.
Pensioners are becoming increasingly concerned about the cashless welfare card. It's bad enough for those forced onto it already, but pensioners rightly don't want to have a bar it. Problem is the Government refuses to rule out that pensioners, too, will have to shop with a card that restricts what they can buy and where they can buy it.
If you or someone you know is persisting with term deposits in the face of laughably low interest rates, there may be an alternative that is almost as safe but pays a lot more.
Economists love land tax because of its efficiency but it's hated just as much by those who point out its regressive nature, not unlike the GST. Who is right?
Financial advise is becoming less conflicted but the old problem of finding a good financial adviser or planner remains.
Every March and every September full rate pensioners hang out for their increase in the pension but it's been a disappointment for years and it is likely to disappointment for the foreseeable future.
Participants in the great superannuation guarantee debate forget that the actual money put aside each year to fund retirements exceeds the 12 per cent super funds dream of.
The Australian Government is big on a job being the best form of welfare, but if you're too old to get on an electric bike to deliver for Uber Eats as a casual, the Government doesn't want to know you.