Living it up on the Pension

[Old Croc]

(Thailand is mentioned in the article)

Perth vs Vietnam: How to lead life of luxury on a pension

by Ray Sparvell

Danang is growing in popularity among Australian tourists - in particular retirees

How's this for a pensioner lifestyle: rent for a four-storey house, $275 a month? An electricity bill that's never more than $20? A high speed internet connection for the same? All satisfyingly washed down with a bottle of beer for 50 cents?

If that sounds like paradise, well, that's the experience for many Australian pensioners flying the domestic coop for offshore lifestyles that stretch their dollars so much further.

Ray's Rant reader Allen Wilde emailed after Thursday's column on Perth's high cost of living. The former Melbourne-based writer/producer of musical theatre moved to Vietnam some five years ago – and has never looked back.

http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/perth-vs-vietnam-how-to-lead-life-of-luxury-on-a-pension-20150525-gh7ocq

(full article here)

Edited May 25, 2015 by Old Croc

[crickets]

I didnt think you could get the pension outside australia.

[Old Croc]

I didnt think you could get the pension outside australia.

It depends on many factors, such as which country you move to, whether you received it before changes started (grandfathering), whether or not you had a sympathetic case officer, or if you have been receiving it for two years before moving.

A typical stuffed up, ever changing Government policy nightmare attacking the elderly.

One more reason to want to flee the place.

[Henryford]

I didnt think you could get the pension outside australia.

Sounds disgraceful. So if you have worked in Australia and paid taxes all your life you can not choose to retire abroad. Even the scamming politicians in the UK aren't that bad.

[nev]

I didnt think you could get the pension outside australia.

Sounds disgraceful. So if you have worked in Australia and paid taxes all your life you can not choose to retire abroad. Even the scamming politicians in the UK aren't that bad.

Yes you can get a Australian pension abroad, but first up is getting the pension, you cannot apply over here, you have to go back and live there for 2 years before you can get the pension, if you get the pension at 67 you must return at 65 and stay for 2 years.

After you are free to live overseas.

[keestha]

Prices, I assume quoted in Aussie Dollars (25.52 Baht), seem very low indeed.

[Old Croc]

Prices, I assume quoted in Aussie Dollars (25.52 Baht), seem very low indeed.

Does seem cheap, I'm not familiar with prices in VN myself.

[fey]

Never found what i was looking for in vietnam. The people were a tad too needy and aggressive for my cup of tea, and they would not "go away" no matter how hard you tried.

Great place to visit for a week or two though.

[dageurreotype]

The buildings (resort?) in that pic look a tad too utilitarian, rather like Penang (not George Town). Chinese influence?

[metisdead]

As Vietnam is in southeast Asia, moved to the Southeast Asia forum.

[watcharacters]

Prices, I assume quoted in Aussie Dollars (25.52 Baht), seem very low indeed.

Does seem cheap, I'm not familiar with prices in VN myself.

We were mostly in Hanoi and HCMC and my impression was prices from a tourist standpoint are pretty much on a par with Thailand. We were told by a couple of different ladies however that clothes in Thailand are less expensive than Vietnam but I wouldn't really know about that. Not my department.

Overall, I liked the Vietnamese people and the culture I experienced there.

[Old Croc]

As Vietnam is in southeast Asia, moved to the Southeast Asia forum.

I put it in General because the main crux of the story is about more and more Australian pensioners living overseas, including Thailand, because the aged pension is now insufficient to live a decent lifestyle at home.

I concede the main example story is about one person who lives in VN, and subsequent posters have concentrated on this aspect of the article, but it is more generally focussed on this style of migration rather than on just one country.

I am a retiree who left for similar reasons and chose Thailand to live.

However....

[totally thaied up]

I didnt think you could get the pension outside australia.

Sounds disgraceful. So if you have worked in Australia and paid taxes all your life you can not choose to retire abroad. Even the scamming politicians in the UK aren't that bad.

Yes you can get a Australian pension abroad, but first up is getting the pension, you cannot apply over here, you have to go back and live there for 2 years before you can get the pension, if you get the pension at 67 you must return at 65 and stay for 2 years.

After you are free to live overseas.

You can retire abroad but you have to be over 65 or 67 an like the above post, have been in Australia for 2 years before you go and cannot apply offshore. You lose some of your supplement money and after 25 weeks out of the country, if you have not lived in Australia for 35 years, you lose another supplement. It is pretty harsh in some ways and if you are under 65, you can only leave Australia now for 4 weeks of the year with a paid pension. After 4 weeks, you lose the pension and if out of the Country for 12 weeks and 1 day, you will have to reapply for the pension and be totally cut off.

I am 45 and on a Disability Pension and live in Thailand permanently. I had to apply for unlimited portability of my pension which is very hard to do as but my disability will never improve and I will never be able to work again. It took me 9 months to jump through all the hops but I was approved and in the end, moved to Thailand. My pension will never be able to be taken off me.

Australia is one of the toughest countries around on these rules for pensions.

[krisb]

What's the long term visa situation like there?

[Nignoy]

Hi old croc, we are living in spain at the moment ,and are being paid a reduced Australian age pension, we tried Thailand in the early 90,s but left huahin when the Scandinavian invasion started, we always liked Vietnam and we permanently rent a bungalow in vungtau as a fishing hut for me and the grandkids while the women folks are shopping in HCMC, don't shout about VN too much, it is great as it is not to many tourists, and no <deleted> Scandinavians, local authorities look after us pretty well,even centrelink is not so heavyhanded these days

[TPI]

What's the long term visa situation like there?

Difficult if you're not married to a Vietnamese?? Right??

[chicowoodduck]

I've spent a far amount of time in the Da Nang Hoi An and Ha Noi areas the last few years,,,,the VN people are so much friendler than the folks in LOS....I did not think it was any cheaper to live in VN vs LOS...about the same, same for food, living, travel expenses, etc. I like the feel of Ha Noi, even with the 10 million motor bikes whizzing by at all hours. Hoi An was a bit too quiet for me, but great for my early morning walks....no need to worry about getting run over by mad and crazy drunk folks....IMHO.

Edited May 25, 2015 by chicowoodduck

[sprq]

I didnt think you could get the pension outside australia.

Sounds disgraceful. So if you have worked in Australia and paid taxes all your life you can not choose to retire abroad. Even the scamming politicians in the UK aren't that bad.

Yes you can get a Australian pension abroad, but first up is getting the pension, you cannot apply over here, you have to go back and live there for 2 years before you can get the pension, if you get the pension at 67 you must return at 65 and stay for 2 years.

After you are free to live overseas.

You can retire abroad but you have to be over 65 or 67 an like the above post, have been in Australia for 2 years before you go and cannot apply offshore. You lose some of your supplement money and after 25 weeks out of the country, if you have not lived in Australia for 35 years, you lose another supplement. It is pretty harsh in some ways and if you are under 65, you can only leave Australia now for 4 weeks of the year with a paid pension. After 4 weeks, you lose the pension and if out of the Country for 12 weeks and 1 day, you will have to reapply for the pension and be totally cut off.

I am 45 and on a Disability Pension and live in Thailand permanently. I had to apply for unlimited portability of my pension which is very hard to do as but my disability will never improve and I will never be able to work again. It took me 9 months to jump through all the hops but I was approved and in the end, moved to Thailand. My pension will never be able to be taken off me.

Australia is one of the toughest countries around on these rules for pensions.

Good god almighty! This makes the restriction on the British state pension -- you don't get any annual increase if you live outside the EU and a few other countries -- seem like paradise. What bare-faced Scrooges run the Aussie system!

[Gandtee]

I didnt think you could get the pension outside australia.

Sounds disgraceful. So if you have worked in Australia and paid taxes all your life you can not choose to retire abroad. Even the scamming politicians in the UK aren't that bad.

The 'scamming politicians in the UK' are that bad. As a Brit my pension has been frozen from the time I first received it sixteen years ago. You can imagine how much it is worth now.

[TigerandDog]

I didnt think you could get the pension outside australia.

Sounds disgraceful. So if you have worked in Australia and paid taxes all your life you can not choose to retire abroad. Even the scamming politicians in the UK aren't that bad.

Yes you can get a Australian pension abroad, but first up is getting the pension, you cannot apply over here, you have to go back and live there for 2 years before you can get the pension, if you get the pension at 67 you must return at 65 and stay for 2 years.

After you are free to live overseas.

You can retire abroad but you have to be over 65 or 67 an like the above post, have been in Australia for 2 years before you go and cannot apply offshore. You lose some of your supplement money and after 25 weeks out of the country, if you have not lived in Australia for 35 years, you lose another supplement. It is pretty harsh in some ways and if you are under 65, you can only leave Australia now for 4 weeks of the year with a paid pension. After 4 weeks, you lose the pension and if out of the Country for 12 weeks and 1 day, you will have to reapply for the pension and be totally cut off.

I am 45 and on a Disability Pension and live in Thailand permanently. I had to apply for unlimited portability of my pension which is very hard to do as but my disability will never improve and I will never be able to work again. It took me 9 months to jump through all the hops but I was approved and in the end, moved to Thailand. My pension will never be able to be taken off me.

Australia is one of the toughest countries around on these rules for pensions.

These replies are only partially accurate. I'm going through the process at the moment. Here's how it really works. If you have an Australian Working Life Residency of 35 years or more (AWLR is calculated from the day you turn 16 to the day you reach pension age and you do not have to actually be working during this time), you only need to be resident in Australia when you apply for the pension and whilst it is being approved. Once you receive your written advice from Centrelink confirming approval and your first pension payment has been deposited into your Australian bank account, you are then free to move OS permanently. Because you have an AWLR of 35+ years you will receive the full BASE pension but only the BASE Age Supplement. (The current rate for the BASE Pension and Base Age Supplement is AUD $402.00 per week for a single person). On the other hand, if you have been living outside Australia more than you have in Australia over the years preceding your pension age being reached, then you will need to live in Australia for 2 years from your pension date before your pension becomes portable and then you can live wherever you want. I have a mate who has been living in Thailand 6 months a year and in Oz 6 months a year for the last 10 years. He reaches pension age in July. He has to live in Australia for 2 years before he can take his pension with him when he returns to Thailand permanently. In my case, I was in Thailand for 7 months from Oct 2014 - end of April 2015. The 2 year rule does not affect me. I am back in Thailand, but will be returning to Oz in mid-June ( I reach pension age in July). I will have to only be resident in Australia, once I return, until my pension is approved and the first payment is in my aussie bank account, then I free to leave permanently and receive the pension in Thailand, until the day I depart this world. The AWLR will still apply though. So if you have an AWLR of say 28 years, then you would divide the $402 by 35 and multiply by 28 to calculate your part pension. $402/35*28 = $321.60 per week. Pension rates are reviewed every March & September, but for those who are permanently overseas they are reviewed quarterly. Also the pension is only paid every 4 weeks if you are overseas and if you wish Centrelink will pay the pension directly into your OS bank account. They will remit in the currency of the country you are living in or USD. They use the Reserve Bank exchange rate on the day of remitting and no fees are charged by Centrelink. However, your OS bank will most likely deduct a small fee when the transfer is credited to your account. A small trap to be aware of that I have yet to confirm, is that in Thailand your bank may deduct income tax from the transfer amount as they consider regular payments of this nature to be income. This would then mean having to lodge a tax return in Thailand if this turns out to be correct.

[ghworker2010]

who would want to live in VN and get ripped off by the locals everyday- everywhere you go. If you cant speak the language your in trouble. if a word is not pronounced 100% correct they will not understand you. Live amongst all the beeping horns everyday. I dont think so...

[rethaier]

I didnt think you could get the pension outside australia.

I've been collecting the Australian pension for 4 years living in Thailand. And yes, Centrelink know where I am.

[totally thaied up]

Yes, that is how I understand it but if you are paid disability, you get paid every fortnight; not monthly. The rules with disability now are very harsh. Once you could leave for 6 months, then paired down to 3 months and then this year 4 weeks paid, with 12 weeks and 1 day away from home (unpaid) allowed. Any longer out of the country you are off the pension and you have to reapply and with the new disability tables (20 points required now), it is not easy. Just having to go through the doctors reports for a start would be a nightmare and it would take a minimum of 3 months to complete.

In my case, there are not that many of us that are on the disability Unlimited Portability pension in Australia as it is one of the most difficult payments to be granted on the Centrelink system and the requirements are harsh. Our Government wants it citizens to stay in Australia an spend their pension at home at the local RSL club or just buying basics at the local shopping center for our economy. Australia has gotten to be one of the most expensive countries to retire in now and the way our Government is going, things are just going to get a whole lot more expensive.

One of the main reasons I was TOLD during my Unlimited Portability interviews they were so harsh when I was applying to live overseas, was that Centrelink found it much harder to track you and your finances, the relationships you had and the 'abilities' to stash away other resources (undeclared cash) while overseas.

It is pretty much a joke as it comes....

Edited May 25, 2015 by totally thaied up

[Vallon66]

What's the long term visa situation like there?

Difficult if you're not married to a Vietnamese?? Right??

That's right. Vietnam does not have any type of retirement visa.So you will be a number of visa runs. Until Vietnam immigration get annoyed by it.

[bridge2bridge]

I didnt think you could get the pension outside australia.

If you have lived in Australia for 10 years or more.

YOU CAN.

[bridge2bridge]

who would want to live in VN and get ripped off by the locals everyday- everywhere you go. If you cant speak the language your in trouble. if a word is not pronounced 100% correct they will not understand you. Live amongst all the beeping horns everyday. I dont think so...

SAME as in Thailand.

[Nignoy]

Centrelink treats each pensioner living overseas differently, up until 12 months ago when dealing with the overseas office you could easily get half a dozen different answers to the same question, but now everyone seems to be reading off the same page, so things are getting a bit easier for us, as far as ghworkers negative comments about unhelpful Vietnamese, as you treat them so they will treat you, don't get me wrong we have been mugged in ho chi minh town , but over the years we have also been robbed in Brisbane and London the mrs got her pocket picked her in rural spain a couple of weeks ago, we are both in our 70,s and disabled, after always trying to learn the languages of the countries we have resided in, even Australian we have met our match in Spanish, but I digress as a farang in Thailand, laos or Vietnam, behave like Victor Meldrew with the locals , and they will treat you like a plank, and the louder you get does not make them understand you any easier,

[bridge2bridge]

I didnt think you could get the pension outside australia.

Sounds disgraceful. So if you have worked in Australia and paid taxes all your life you can not choose to retire abroad. Even the scamming politicians in the UK aren't that bad.

Yes you can get a Australian pension abroad, but first up is getting the pension, you cannot apply over here, you have to go back and live there for 2 years before you can get the pension, if you get the pension at 67 you must return at 65 and stay for 2 years.

After you are free to live overseas.

You can retire abroad but you have to be over 65 or 67 an like the above post, have been in Australia for 2 years before you go and cannot apply offshore. You lose some of your supplement money and after 25 weeks out of the country, if you have not lived in Australia for 35 years, you lose another supplement. It is pretty harsh in some ways and if you are under 65, you can only leave Australia now for 4 weeks of the year with a paid pension. After 4 weeks, you lose the pension and if out of the Country for 12 weeks and 1 day, you will have to reapply for the pension and be totally cut off.

I am 45 and on a Disability Pension and live in Thailand permanently. I had to apply for unlimited portability of my pension which is very hard to do as but my disability will never improve and I will never be able to work again. It took me 9 months to jump through all the hops but I was approved and in the end, moved to Thailand. My pension will never be able to be taken off me.

Australia is one of the toughest countries around on these rules for pensions.

The AGED Pension is different.

I can live overseas and after six weeks i loose the SUPPLEMENT.

But the rest of my pension i get until i die.

No matter where i live.

[giddyup]

I didnt think you could get the pension outside australia.

It depends on many factors, such as which country you move to, whether you received it before changes started (grandfathering), whether or not you had a sympathetic case officer, or if you have been receiving it for two years before moving.

A typical stuffed up, ever changing Government policy nightmare attacking the elderly.

One more reason to want to flee the place.

It doesn't matter which country yo move to, as long as you qualify you can take the pension anywhere.

[MikeOwen]

I didnt think you could get the pension outside australia.

Sounds disgraceful. So if you have worked in Australia and paid taxes all your life you can not choose to retire abroad. Even the scamming politicians in the UK aren't that bad.

Just give it time ! it won't be long before us Brits will be in the same boat ,disgusting !!!