All Aussie Related Stuff (excluding the old age pension)

[sanuk711]

Anyone living in LOS still kept the private insurance (Medibank etc) payments up, I am over visiting----my hip has been playing up for a while and may need hip replacement---$28,000...or I can take an insurance --$2-3,000 out and wait for a year (if you disclose that you already have problem) 3rd option get in the line for Medicare...about 3 year wait.

[AussieBob18]

On 11/12/2019 at 6:51 AM, Salerno said:

I think you'll find it doesn't.

 

The only relevant time of living in Australia (other than the qualifying 10 years for portability) is how long she's lived here when she turns 67. If she's lived in Australia for 15 years (as a permanent resident) when she turns 67 her pension will be pro rata 15/35ths. If she returns to Thailand 5 years later at age 72 her pension is still 15/35ths not 20/35ths.

Yes you are right, it is only the years a person lived/worked in Australia up until they reach pension age (67).  Still, it is a good number for her, and now we can calculate exactly how much she will get.  Thanks for the advice - much appreciated.

[Old Croc]

Some interesting stats from DFAT.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/dfat-receives-48-000-emergency-calls-as-overseas-trips-reach-all-time-high-20191118-p53bm5.html

 

No prizes for guessing where most Consular assistance was provided!  "Nearly 900 cases in Thailand"

[AussieBob18]

1 hour ago, Old Croc said:

Some interesting stats from DFAT.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/dfat-receives-48-000-emergency-calls-as-overseas-trips-reach-all-time-high-20191118-p53bm5.html

No prizes for guessing where most Consular assistance was provided!  "Nearly 900 cases in Thailand"

I found some very interesting stats about Aussie tourism to Thailand.

According to DFAT, 247,000 Aussies visited Thailand in 2018-2019 (1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019).

Now given the very rigorous and modern systems in place in Australia, I am certain that figure is accurate.

 

But according to TAT, there was 574,762 Aussies visiting Thailand in Jan to Sept 2019.

TAT also claim that 801,637 Aussies visited Thailand in 2018.

Mmmmmmmmmmm - maybe my maths is wrong, but something doesn't quite add up ????

 

I wonder if TATs figures are also drastically wrong about tourist numbers from other countries too - just asking ????

 

[Old Croc]

12 minutes ago, AussieBob18 said:

I found some very interesting stats about Aussie tourism to Thailand.

According to DFAT, 247,000 Aussies visited Thailand in 2018-2019 (1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019).

Now given the very rigorous and modern systems in place in Australia, I am certain that figure is accurate.

 

But according to TAT, there was 574,762 Aussies visiting Thailand in Jan to Sept 2019.

TAT also claim that 801,637 Aussies visited Thailand in 2018.

Mmmmmmmmmmm - maybe my maths is wrong, but something doesn't quite add up ????

 

I wonder if TATs figures are also drastically wrong about tourist numbers from other countries too - just asking ????

 

Not coming down on the side of TAT but I think the DFAT numbers are also inaccurate.

From what I can ascertain they are based on the number of views their Smart Traveler site gets for each country.

 

[Old Croc]

I would think only the receiving country would be able to give a good idea about numbers of arrivals based on citizenship.

DFAT would have no way of knowing every country a traveller visits when touring. There's no universal movements data base yet. (I think!)

[AussieBob18]

19 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

Not coming down on the side of TAT but I think the DFAT numbers are also inaccurate.

From what I can ascertain they are based on the number of views their Smart Traveler site gets for each country.

 

You are right - my bad.   I looked in more detail and the actual number of visdits to Thailand was 565,300 - much closer to the TAT numbers.   Less Aussies have visited than the 800K in the previous two years, but not as big a drop as I first thought.  

 

[AussieBob18]

11 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

I would think only the receiving country would be able to give a good idea about numbers of arrivals based on citizenship.

DFAT would have no way of knowing every country a traveller visits when touring. There's no universal movements data base yet. (I think!)

Yes they do. Right down to the individual person and the country they enter and leave - if they use their Aussie Passport for the flights and when entering and leaving.  And thios is reported to CLink and CSA (and others) depending on what database you are in (or watchlist you are on).

[Old Croc]

10 hours ago, AussieBob18 said:

Yes they do. Right down to the individual person and the country they enter and leave - if they use their Aussie Passport for the flights and when entering and leaving.  And thios is reported to CLink and CSA (and others) depending on what database you are in (or watchlist you are on).

Disagree with your theory that every movement by Australians into and out of every foreign country is monitored by Australia.

Australia does have a movements data base that records all travel into and out of their country, and some other government departments have access to these details - including CL. These movements do record flight numbers making it possible to see where a departing passengers port of disembarkation is, but it does not keep tabs of everywhere someone goes after that. An expat living in Thailand for instance who travels frequently around the region does not have those travel movements recorded by Australia.

Obviously, if a person is under investigation for a serious matter, some clues of their travel may be found in airline or other countries computer records, but there is no universal monitoring system. Details may also be found by examining the passport 's cachets on next arrival home, or a request for local movement details could be made to other countries.

 

[AussieBob18]

7 hours ago, Old Croc said:

Disagree with your theory that every movement by Australians into and out of every foreign country is monitored by Australia.

Australia does have a movements data base that records all travel into and out of their country, and some other government departments have access to these details - including CL. These movements do record flight numbers making it possible to see where a departing passengers port of disembarkation is, but it does not keep tabs of everywhere someone goes after that. An expat living in Thailand for instance who travels frequently around the region does not have those travel movements recorded by Australia.

Obviously, if a person is under investigation for a serious matter, some clues of their travel may be found in airline or other countries computer records, but there is no universal monitoring system. Details may also be found by examining the passport 's cachets on next arrival home, or a request for local movement details could be made to other countries.

 

I think we are in 'violent agreement' ???? I was referring to all trips from Australia to any destination and when re-entering Australia. Once an Aussie then enters another country, it is only certain other countries where their next departures and arrivals into are 'systematically' recorded and logged into the Australian database.  As more and more countries introduce electronic systems, then the ability of Australians to 'disappear' while overseas will become harder when using airline flights - land borders are another issue.  This was going on for a while and was 'ramped' up as a security measure across a lot of western countries, and it is being forced/encouraged into more and more developing countries like Thailand. 

[4MyEgo]

Some interesting reading in the below link for any (non-resident) expats out there who own property back home. I raised this a while back in a separate topic and now those (non-resident) expats owning a property back home should be very concerned with the prior post warning of this, was passed into legislation yesterday, which means they could be paying up to 43% capital gains tax retrospectively, i.e. back to the date of purchase, when they sell their property as a (non-resident) expat.

 

An example would be if you purchased a property back in 1985 and now sell it as a non-resident, and made a million $ profit, your capital gains tax as a (non-resident) expat would be around 43% of that or $430,000 out of the million $. 

 

The above said, I believe this will apply after 1 July 2020, however I am not qualified in this field and would advise any non-resident to speak to their accountant or seek confirmation from the ATO as quick as possible, because if there is a 6 month window, you would want to get cracking !!!

 

Click on the link below and have a damn good read if you own are a (non-resident) expat and property back in Oz.

 

For those that are residents and own property back home and think they are covered, you should want to make damn sure you are not a (non-resident) because if deemed otherwise, you will be paying through the nose in capital gains tax as a non-resident.

 

https://www.expattaxes.com.au/main-residence-exemption-abolished/?utm_source=Drip&utm_medium=broadcast&utm_campaign=MRE2019

 

Now lets see if I can find something positive to read......

[moojar]

^ Ah, it passed.  It failed to get up in the previous parliament so the LNP must have a friendlier Senate this time around. 

 

Will the pr1cks never get off our backs?  

 

I changed my whole retirement strategy when I heard this was back on the agenda.  We are listing our house for sale in the first half of next year, before we retire.  So pleased the market is back to a boom mentality!

 

I think if you are already overseas and will be impacted they give you until a certain date to sell and avoid the horrendous CGT %. 

[Goinghomesoon]

3 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Some interesting reading in the below link for any (non-resident) expats out there who own property back home. I raised this a while back in a separate topic and now those (non-resident) expats owning a property back home should be very concerned with the prior post warning of this, was passed into legislation yesterday, which means they could be paying up to 43% capital gains tax retrospectively, i.e. back to the date of purchase, when they sell their property as a (non-resident) expat.

 

I also believe that non-residents (for tax purposes) who return to Australia and re-establish residency at some point, will incur GST on the portion of profits that can be apportioned to the non-residency period.  It's not clear if this will be a simple formula (ie: non-resident for 5 years, resident for 5 years so GST is calculated on 50%) or whether there will be some other mechanism (ie: if you have your house valued at the start and end of the non-residency period whether the estimated proportion of profit is taxed.  Since the market is lumpy, the second version seems logical but probably overly difficult to police.

[4MyEgo]

3 hours ago, moojar said:

^ Ah, it passed.  It failed to get up in the previous parliament so the LNP must have a friendlier Senate this time around. 

 

Will the pr1cks never get off our backs?  

 

I changed my whole retirement strategy when I heard this was back on the agenda.  We are listing our house for sale in the first half of next year, before we retire.  So pleased the market is back to a boom mentality!

 

I think if you are already overseas and will be impacted they give you until a certain date to sell and avoid the horrendous CGT %. 

I sold my place 6 months after I left as I knew I would be up for CGT as a non resident, that said, I also knew there was something in the pipeline like this coming.

 

As for the date, from my interpretation its the 1st July 2020 to flick it as a non resident, you will still pay your CGT, but not to the amount of 43% and not retrospective, e.g. back to when you purchased it.

 

If and when you sell, you may want to look at the share market as it's a tax free haven for non residents, that said they have to be fully franked shares, and as long as you don't intend on selling, hold on for the ride as it gets pretty bumby with the tweets Trump has been doing with the China-Usa trade war, but it is what it is, 50 in and 50 in the banks should do it, with only 10% withholding tax taken out on the interest, if any, with the rates at hand.

[4MyEgo]

15 minutes ago, Goinghomesoon said:

I also believe that non-residents (for tax purposes) who return to Australia and re-establish residency at some point, will incur GST on the portion of profits that can be apportioned to the non-residency period.  It's not clear if this will be a simple formula (ie: non-resident for 5 years, resident for 5 years so GST is calculated on 50%) or whether there will be some other mechanism (ie: if you have your house valued at the start and end of the non-residency period whether the estimated proportion of profit is taxed.  Since the market is lumpy, the second version seems logical but probably overly difficult to police.

That was the case and will now change come 1 July 2020 as my interpretation is that there will be no apportionment, it will be a retrospective thing, i.e. from the date you purchased it, which is absolutely idiotic if it is how I interpret it, and if it is they way I interpret it, one would want to go home a$$-up, re-establish residency before 1 July 2020 and then sell, that is the only way they would get the apportionment, after 1 July 2020, they would b burnt toast, 43% all the way back to when they purchased it.

 

Sad days ahead for some unsuspecting non resident home owner/s, which reminds me, I told a bloke about this over a year ago, he sold, and parked his money in the ASX after paying what CGT he had to under the old rules, so I better collect on my beer next time I see him as its legislation now. 

[steven100]

On to something a little different …….       ' I'm have trouble getting my head around this '

Can anyone assist with this ?   is it considered a safe investment or not  ?                                                      

[UncleMhee]

They seem like scumbags to me......you invest, they lend! Remember Storm Financial?

 

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/north/couple-evicted-from-thomastown-home-after-long-and-expensive-legal-battle/news-story/62bc2b9032ab60c500c14bfd222e0fac

[4MyEgo]

22 hours ago, steven100 said:

On to something a little different …….       ' I'm have trouble getting my head around this '

Can anyone assist with this ?   is it considered a safe investment or not  ?                                                      

I just purchased some more Bendigo Bank shares this morning at $9.80 which are paying $0.70c per annum, paid every 6 months, next payment due in March, then September, now if your a non-resident for tax purposes, that's about 7.15% tax free and you have the benefit of zero capital gains tax payable when you sell them for a profit, i.e. if that's your intention, besides, I never liked anyone else handling my money, at least if I F up, it's my doing and I have no delusion of paying others commission who are all hype on making me money, usually BS anyway in my opinion.

 

Firstly ask yourself if you are a resident for tax purposes, or a non resident, then go from there, residents have the $18,200 threshold before they start paying tax, and they pay capital gains tax, although a 50% discount applies if you are in for over 12 months.

[steven100]

18 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

I just purchased some more Bendigo Bank shares this morning at $9.80 which are paying $0.70c per annum, paid every 6 months, next payment due in March, then September, now if your a non-resident for tax purposes, that's about 7.15% tax free and you have the benefit of zero capital gains tax payable when you sell them for a profit, i.e. if that's your intention, besides, I never liked anyone else handling my money, at least if I F up, it's my doing and I have no delusion of paying others commission who are all hype on making me money, usually BS anyway in my opinion.

 

Firstly ask yourself if you are a resident for tax purposes, or a non resident, then go from there, residents have the $18,200 threshold before they start paying tax, and they pay capital gains tax, although a 50% discount applies if you are in for over 12 months.

So they pay a annual dividend of 0.70c …… ?  that's interesting,  even still being a resident allows $18,200 before any tax so I could up to 18k in the dividend payment which is around 30,000 baht per month ….

I'll look into that one ...

[4MyEgo]

4 minutes ago, steven100 said:

So they pay a annual dividend of 0.70c …… ?  that's interesting,  even still being a resident allows $18,200 before any tax so I could up to 18k in the dividend payment which is around 30,000 baht per month ….

I'll look into that one ...

If you have a spare $250,000 AUD that will give you your 30,000 baht per month which is around 7%, as for capital gains tax you should get the 50% discount if you hold the shares for more than 12 months.

 

There is an old saying though, don't put all your eggs in the one basket, i.e. sometimes it's best to spread the money into other blue chip shares, albeit that they are paying a lesser amount, perhaps averaged out reducing the risk and obviously the return to say 5%-6%, but each to their own.

 

Note I have four bank stocks paying anywhere from 5%, 6%, 7% and when I purchase them two years ago, I knew they would go south 20%-25% but that didn't phase me as the tax free return is what I was looking for and eventually they will go back up and of course there will be no capital gains to pay as a non resident, so if you do buy in and they go south, as long as you don't need the money and are sure of it, just enjoy the ride with the chocolates every 6 months.

[steven100]

39 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

If you have a spare $250,000 AUD that will give you your 30,000 baht per month which is around 7%, as for capital gains tax you should get the 50% discount if you hold the shares for more than 12 months.

 

There is an old saying though, don't put all your eggs in the one basket, i.e. sometimes it's best to spread the money into other blue chip shares, albeit that they are paying a lesser amount, perhaps averaged out reducing the risk and obviously the return to say 5%-6%, but each to their own.

 

Note I have four bank stocks paying anywhere from 5%, 6%, 7% and when I purchase them two years ago, I knew they would go south 20%-25% but that didn't phase me as the tax free return is what I was looking for and eventually they will go back up and of course there will be no capital gains to pay as a non resident, so if you do buy in and they go south, as long as you don't need the money and are sure of it, just enjoy the ride with the chocolates every 6 months.

 

It looks like holders as at December 02 2019 will receive the dividend in May ……  

am I reading that correctly  …  ???

[4MyEgo]

28 minutes ago, steven100 said:

It looks like holders as at December 02 2019 will receive the dividend in May ……  

am I reading that correctly  …  ???

There are other shares with Bendigo bank, you want the ordinary shares, I have the link below, look at the payment date (interim dividend), the rest means when what date you have to hold them at, e.g. when you have to of purchased them, etc etc, noting these dates can change, but rarely do.

 

https://www.bendigoadelaide.com.au/shareholders/calendar.asp#ordinaryShares

[Old Croc]

I have a managed investment pension fund with about that stated amount in it.

I pay an adviser fee and admin costs, and receive a monthly pension from it of just under 1,000aud, which supplements my comsuper pension. It is tax free for me. Despite the outgoings, the principal is growing quite well. 

The fund has risen at 17.16% in the 12 months to today (I know that can vary considerably).  I'm happy to pay the experts to spread my money through many different types of investment with varying degrees of risk.

Of course that figure varies according to the fluctuations of markets and the vagaries of the rubbish emanating from Trump's mouth, but it is insulated, but not completely immune, from another market crash many feel is inevitable.

 

MLC.

Has cleaned up it's act since the industry shakeup.

 

[steven100]

2 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

There are other shares with Bendigo bank, you want the ordinary shares, I have the link below, look at the payment date (interim dividend), the rest means when what date you have to hold them at, e.g. when you have to of purchased them, etc etc, noting these dates can change, but rarely do.

 

https://www.bendigoadelaide.com.au/shareholders/calendar.asp#ordinaryShares

did you register on that website as an e-shareholder …   ?  I will do my maths and look at purchasing some soon ... tks.

[4MyEgo]

34 minutes ago, steven100 said:

did you register on that website as an e-shareholder …   ?  I will do my maths and look at purchasing some soon ... tks.

I opened an account with NetBank through the Commonwealth Bank years ago and trade that way, i.e. I buy and sell (not often) and dividends go into my CBA account.

 

I don't know what you are referring to as an e-shareholder.

 

Just remember share can go down as quick as they can go up and dividends can change, like the Westpac and the NAB dropping their dividends from $.99c every 6 months down to $0,80c every 6 months which changes your yield on return.

[Old Croc]

Don't know if any here are affected, but the CGT legislation slugging expats has passed the senate.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-02/australian-expats-face-tax-slug-cgt-main-residence-exemption/11836094

 

[4MyEgo]

On 12/14/2019 at 3:14 PM, Old Croc said:

I have a managed investment pension fund with about that stated amount in it.

I pay an adviser fee and admin costs, and receive a monthly pension from it of just under 1,000aud, which supplements my comsuper pension. It is tax free for me. Despite the outgoings, the principal is growing quite well. 

There is good and bad in what you are saying. When I first started out I had a broker, it was 1% for the buy and 1% for the sell and after a year from what I invested, the broker made more than me, suffice to say, so I said to him, if I am going to feed you more than I eat, you are going to have to make me more money of which his reply was there are no guarantees, and Trump has really stuffed the market up with the trade war, to which I agreed and said, I totally understand, so it's best I give it a go myself, that said, I am now a fat cat and have been making money from the stock market on my own.

 

The return you have stated is a great return, I average anywhere from 8% to 12% per year without any broker and zero tax payable.

[4MyEgo]

On 1/2/2020 at 2:31 PM, Old Croc said:

Don't know if any here are affected, but the CGT legislation slugging expats has passed the senate.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-02/australian-expats-face-tax-slug-cgt-main-residence-exemption/11836094

 

I posted this back on the 6th December at #611, you might have missed it.

 

If you did miss it the link at # 611 has the most up to date information on how it affects expats who have their principal place of residence back home.

 

 

[Old Croc]

10 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

I posted this back on the 6th December at #611, you might have missed it.

 

If you did miss it the link at # 611 has the most up to date information on how it affects expats who have their principal place of residence back home.

I did see your previous post on the subject without reading the detail, but, as this has just been published as a fresh updated story by the ABC, I provided the link.

I haven't done comparisons so don't know if there were any additional facts revealed this time.

I don't have a personal interest in the subject as I sold my property near the top of the market before leaving in 2010, and moved a large sum in 2012 at the rate of 32.3 to buy here.

Sorry if your nose was put out of joint.

[Old Croc]

11 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

There is good and bad in what you are saying. When I first started out I had a broker, it was 1% for the buy and 1% for the sell and after a year from what I invested, the broker made more than me, suffice to say, so I said to him, if I am going to feed you more than I eat, you are going to have to make me more money of which his reply was there are no guarantees, and Trump has really stuffed the market up with the trade war, to which I agreed and said, I totally understand, so it's best I give it a go myself, that said, I am now a fat cat and have been making money from the stock market on my own.

 

The return you have stated is a great return, I average anywhere from 8% to 12% per year without any broker and zero tax payable.

I'm not as clever as you, I make use of experts to spread my investment money through a myriad of funds and various types of safety nets letting them do the research.

If you're good enough, or lucky enough, to play the stock market, always making profits and avoiding the crashes, kudos for you. I have several mates who have lost all, or large parts, of their retirement funds because they thought the markets were easy.

I prefer to ensure losses will be minimized if the worse happens.

If the experts make losses, or only small gains, I would move my money  out.