Australian Aged Pension

[Pattaya57]

6 minutes ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

I wonder if you asked for 7 months it might be different. If your working or have  other income there's the medicare surcharge levy which kicks in for the months you suspend too which makes it less worthwhile.  

There was 2 months minimum and no maximum other than a maximum cumulative total of 2 years suspended. I was retired so didn't care about the medicare surcharge as it didn't apply. I did my suspensions in 2-4 month blocks

 

Edited 21 hours ago by Pattaya57

[scorecard]

And if you cannot work due to illness and so on?

 

And from my understanding  in the US Social Security System there's  a cap on what you can withdraw - and the cap is basically what you have personally contributed. 

 

So if you personal Social Security fund is dry at 80 years old - bad luck? 

 

I have several US colleagues hre in LOS, that's the way they explain it, and they are dreading the day it runs out.

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, gearbox said:

Ain't gonna work unless the super withdrawal rules are changed and the lump sum withdrawals are banned. I know people who moved to $4 million to lower their assets and get a pension.

 

The US has much better structured pension system, you have to work and save in order to have money in retirement.

 

But there's more detail which is not all that positive. 

[gearbox]

57 minutes ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

Can I ask what you mean? You mean they took money out of their super after retirement and spent it or put it somewhere so they were within the limit by the time they get to 67. Are you saying you think you should have to take it as an income stream or something. 

Sorry I missed "home" from the post. They bought expensive property to remove assessable assets and get full pension. Their children are having their inheritance funded by the taxpayers.

[Lacessit]

2 hours ago, gearbox said:

 

 

The US has much better structured pension system, you have to work and save in order to have money in retirement.

A fat lot of good that does if you are forced to pay extortionate amounts for medical insurance, or shell out a fortune for pharmaceuticals to keep you alive.

 

Then there's Florida, where retirees are being made homeless as a result of government condo policy.

 

IMO anyone who prefers the American social security system over Australia's has rocks in their head.

 

 

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, gearbox said:

Sorry I missed "home" from the post. They bought expensive property to remove assessable assets and get full pension. Their children are having their inheritance funded by the taxpayers.

I seriously doubt anyone can get a full pension and own a very expensive home without having very high council rates and property insurance costs.

 

Getting a part pension is a different matter. Even $1 of part pension gains admittance to a number of welfare privileges. That's where the accountants of rich people get very creative.

 

IIRC Labor brought in a limitation on the amount that could be held in a super fund at concessional rates of tax on earnings. I expect that noose will be tightened further.

[4MyEgo]

16 hours ago, Will27 said:

I'm enjoying the (mostly) informative and respectful posts.

 

You just know the avavalanche is coming again shortly though.

 

LOL, that is so funny, was just thinking the same thing.

 

Must be on heavier meds.

 

We should think of a caption for the below: I will start......

 

I'm losing my mind, I need to go on Asean Now !!!

 

 

Edited 5 hours ago by 4MyEgo

[4MyEgo]

16 hours ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

Your post was something I had never considered. I have had a look and can't see something that says that but it doesn't clearly say that it is ok too. 

 

I remember at the time that I was looking to obtain private health insurance in Australia, with me living here, you know just in case I returned for treatment there, instead of here, and all were done by email to various insurers.

 

All coming back to me saying that they cannot insure me as I am a non resident and would have to live in Australia as a resident to get private health insurance, which of course made no sense to me, however I am thinking on the lines, that if a non residents Medicare expires after 5 years, that might have something to do with it, I have no idea.

 

They did however steer me in the direction of direction of global private heath care providers, I did go with one through a broker, and was with them for 4 years, and the premium kept going up and up and up every year, age was one, new age bracket and the last one was because the insurer changed an underwriter and at that point my insurance premium had doubled to 140k per annum, to which I kindly replied, no thank you.

 

Since then I have put the premium amount and the families premium amount aside and save a million baht in premiums, no claims and yes not enough, but I have enough funds to keep us out of trouble, "I hope", that said, we all still have our Medicare cards and will return if it is a major concern if it's going to cost us a fortune here, if and when it comes, hopefully not. 

[4MyEgo]

16 hours ago, Pattaya57 said:

I had Bupa for many years and everytime I came to Thailand they allowed me to suspend the account thus not having to pay (minimum of 2 months). If they didn't allow people that spent a considerable time out of Australia in the fund then why were they allowing me whereby I only had to pay when I got back to Australia

 

That's a good question, if you really want to know the answer to that, you could ring them, or email them and say; hey guys, I am thinking of moving to Thailand, would I still be able to renew my cover, because my residency status, might change to a non resident.

 

Then you will have your answer, might not like what you hear ?

[Pattaya57]

19 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

 

That's a good question, if you really want to know the answer to that, you could ring them, or email them and say; hey guys, I am thinking of moving to Thailand, would I still be able to renew my cover, because my residency status, might change to a non resident.

 

Then you will have your answer, might not like what you hear ?

You seem to think to be considered to reside in Australia you have to live in Australia 100% of the time. I just explained that my Bupa allowed me to suspend my account for 2-4 months at a time because I was often in Thailand and they allowed me to do that for up to 2 years total suspension. Why would I need to call them just because you think it's not possible? 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by Pattaya57

[4MyEgo]

13 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

You seem to think to be considered to reside in Australia you have to live in Australia 100% of the time. I just explained that my Bupa allowed me to suspend my account for 2-4 months at a time because I was often in Thailand and they allowed me to do that for up to 2 years total suspension. Why would I need to call them just because you think it's not possible? 

 

We can dance around all day, but if we stick to what I was talking about, i.e. being covered by a private health insurer in Australia, i.e. if your residency status changes, will your private health provider in Australia still insure you ?

 

I think not, based on the emails that I received from different insurers at the time that I enquired some years ago.

 

Now we can all have private health insurance when we were in Australia and moved overseas, however not advising your private health insurer that your residency status changed, might make your contract null and void.

 

Just saying, and don't really care, point !

[Lacessit]

42 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

 

We can dance around all day, but if we stick to what I was talking about, i.e. being covered by a private health insurer in Australia, i.e. if your residency status changes, will your private health provider in Australia still insure you ?

 

I think not, based on the emails that I received from different insurers at the time that I enquired some years ago.

 

Now we can all have private health insurance when we were in Australia and moved overseas, however not advising your private health insurer that your residency status changed, might make your contract null and void.

 

Just saying, and don't really care, point !

My private health provider in Australia restored my suspended insurance the week before I landed in Australia, after the COVID lockdown. They knew I had been overseas for more than two years.

 

I pay the premium yearly. If the fund continued to accept premiums from me while denying me cover because I am not resident, that would be fraud.

 

The health fund is a not-for-profit entity, maybe that is a factor.

 

The subject of residency has never been raised with me by the health fund. Obviously, I am not going to start asking.

[Will27]

1 hour ago, 4MyEgo said:

 

We can dance around all day, but if we stick to what I was talking about, i.e. being covered by a private health insurer in Australia, i.e. if your residency status changes, will your private health provider in Australia still insure you ?

 

I think not, based on the emails that I received from different insurers at the time that I enquired some years ago.

 

Now we can all have private health insurance when we were in Australia and moved overseas, however not advising your private health insurer that your residency status changed, might make your contract null and void.

 

Just saying, and don't really care, point !

I think you're reading way too much into this TBH.

 

As long as people pay their premiums, they should be covered.

I doubt the health insurer even looks at things like residency status and how would they check anyway?

[4MyEgo]

56 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

My private health provider in Australia restored my suspended insurance the week before I landed in Australia, after the COVID lockdown. They knew I had been overseas for more than two years.

 

I pay the premium yearly. If the fund continued to accept premiums from me while denying me cover because I am not resident, that would be fraud.

 

The health fund is a not-for-profit entity, maybe that is a factor.

 

The subject of residency has never been raised with me by the health fund. Obviously, I am not going to start asking.

 

It's only my opinion, but suspending your insurance while stuck overseas until you landed back in Oz, makes sense as you wouldn't be able to access any hospitals in Oz with the COVID con, I mean lockdowns...LOL

 

As for the residency thing, yes, don't wake the sleeping giant as they say.

[4MyEgo]

38 minutes ago, Will27 said:

I think you're reading way too much into this TBH.

 

As long as people pay their premiums, they should be covered.

I doubt the health insurer even looks at things like residency status and how would they check anyway?

 

I'm not reading into it at all TBH.

 

I just raised some facts in my case when trying to get cover in Oz as a non resident and they told me that I had to be a resident of Oz, I argued that I was a Citizen and they said, yep, nah, resident, so make of that what you will.

 

No point in waking the sleeping giant as they say, but for me, I would hate it, if all of a sudden they did ask a question, and I had to answer it, fraudulently because that could make the contract null and void as previously mentioned. 

 

Like you said, how would they check anyway, hey Mr So and So, can you provide us with copies of your passport pages please, and yes, fat chance that would happen, but what if Mr or Mrs Goody Two Shoes who's on the ball, picked it up and their policy stated you have to be a resident to be covered, yes, yes, I know fat chance, but, when I take out a contract, I want to know the fine print as that provides me with less exposure, a classic example is all these dipsticks who come here with travel insurance, but don't read the fine print, e.g. must have a current riders license and IDP, wear a helmet and ride no bigger than a 125cc motorcycle, or the policy doesn't allow for motorbikes.

 

Contract null and void, I know it has nothing to do with residency, but fine prints are fine prints, and I will see if I can find an example and post it, just to clarify things, albeit it I remember couldn't fid anything when I did Google it years ago.

 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by 4MyEgo

[Will27]

31 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

 

I'm not reading into it at all TBH.

 

I just raised some facts in my case when trying to get cover in Oz as a non resident and they told me that I had to be a resident of Oz, I argued that I was a Citizen and they said, yep, nah, resident, so make of that what you will.

 

No point in waking the sleeping giant as they say, but for me, I would hate it, if all of a sudden they did ask a question, and I had to answer it, fraudulently because that could make the contract null and void as previously mentioned. 

 

Like you said, how would they check anyway, hey Mr So and So, can you provide us with copies of your passport pages please, and yes, fat chance that would happen, but what if Mr or Mrs Goody Two Shoes who's on the ball, picked it up and their policy stated you have to be a resident to be covered, yes, yes, I know fat chance, but, when I take out a contract, I want to know the fine print as that provides me with less exposure, a classic example is all these dipsticks who come here with travel insurance, but don't read the fine print, e.g. must have a current riders license and IDP, wear a helmet and ride no bigger than a 125cc motorcycle, or the policy doesn't allow for motorbikes.

 

Contract null and void, I know it has nothing to do with residency, but fine prints are fine prints, and I will see if I can find an example and post it, just to clarify things, albeit it I remember couldn't fid anything when I did Google it years ago.

 

 

It might be prudent to perhaps  start a new topic on health insurance for Aussies.

Edited 1 hour ago by Will27

[Olmate]

1 hour ago, Will27 said:

It might be prudent to perhaps  start a new topic on health insurance for Aussies.

Long wind thats blowing insurance out the window!