Yahoo Finance Pensioners to score income boost
Australia’s working pensioners will soon be able to earn an extra $300 a fortnight without it impacting their pension payments under draft laws that just cleared the first barrier in parliament.
The proposal, announced in last year’s budget, cleared the lower house on Wednesday along with two other strategies designed to benefit older Australians. These were means testing pooled-retirement-income products and opening access to the pension loan scheme to more Australians.
These measures have been costed at $258.6 million over the forward estimates.
“Overall, this bill gives retirees greater choice and flexibility when it comes to managing their finances in retirement,” Social Services Minister Paul Fletcher said.
Overseas pensioners will need to prove they’re alive
But pensioners living overseas will need to prove they’re alive to continue receiving welfare, another draft law proposes.
Fletcher told the lower house the proposed law would only apply to expat pensioners over the age of 80. There are about 25,000 who fit this criteria.
– With AAP.
Make your money work with Yahoo Finance’s daily newsletter. Sign up here and stay on top of the latest money, news and tech news.
Now read: Crypto firm sends $519,000 in Bitcoin to dead man’s wallet
