Financial Standard Comments - Call for self-funded retirees inclusion Sunday's carbon tax announcement has produced mixed results for pensioners with approximately 285,000 self-funded retirees to miss out on the compensation scheme for pensioners, according to the National Seniors Australia. https://www.financialstandard.com.au/feed/latest?story=12100559 Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:19:53 +1000 Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:19:53 +1000 en-AU Copyright 2026 Financial Standard 5 Comment by Rose J () I would like to know what happens with self funded retirees under 65. I am 62 on single income of $32000.My understanding is that this group recieves no support because they do not have Comm. Health Cards. This group was also overlooked with the stimulus package which was said at the time to be an unintended oversight. Is this correct?

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]]> Rose J () Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:19:53 +1000 Comment by Advisor () Correct - if you do not receive income support you receive nothing

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]]> Advisor () Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:44:34 +1000 Comment by Heather L () I am in the same position as Rose J. I agree with all she has said. I hope there is someone out there who will draw attention to this oversight.

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]]> Heather L () Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:44:39 +1000 Comment by Enough is enough () A self funded retiree on $51,000 is doing very well thank you. Comparing this to a family income of $150,000 is chalk and cheese. Families generally have mortgages, children commitments etc. We are becoming a nation of hangers-on who all want hand outs.

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]]> Enough is enough () Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:56:14 +1000 Comment by Bob C () Once again being self funded, under 65, gaining no gov support obviously suggests we are a forgotten minority group. We would get no tax breaks in the taxation system as we are not paying tax and no senior card to link into gov systems. Just send the cheque $550 to me I''ll sort in out from there Julia.

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]]> Bob C () Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:23:40 +1000 Comment by Dianne C () Yep looks like we miss out again. I am a 58 year old self funded retiree on less than $30,000 pa and I will get nothing.....again !
So much for working all my life, paying my taxes and funding my own retirement from my savings..should have spent all my money and held my hand out for a pension like most people do. Shame on them for lying to get elected then doing this, they should be able to be put in jail.

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]]> Dianne C () Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:24:20 +1000 Comment by RobbieB () I think Rose is right . I am in the same boat and obviously one of the 1 in 10 who will not get any compensation.

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]]> RobbieB () Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:24:42 +1000 Comment by Judi () I too would like to know - I too am a self-funded retiree, drawing a meager amount from my super and as I am 60-1 and only have a senior's Card but not a Commonwealth Health Care Card which apparently is what attracts the compensation.
Tired of a job I was in for 31 years, caught out with the divorce laws for Superannuation and the cross over with the retirement age for women changing from 60 to 65 (for me) I am having to be very careful with what I draw down from my super, suffering from ageism in my job hunting and living on my own with the costs going up all the time I am truly wearing down... Goodness only knows what will happen in the next few years until I can claim the so called pension.
Thanks Julia

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]]> Judi () Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:32:06 +1000 Comment by Michael () Couldn"t agree more with above comments. Work all your life, pay taxes, not a burden on government and then they kick you in the teeth.

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]]> Michael () Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:48:05 +1000 Comment by John Shingleton () Like Bob and Rose I am self funded and under 65. My wife and I fill the requirement of under 80k per annum but no health card means we are left in the dark to make our own way thru this abominable tax. As just one of the 10% who miss out, I cannot change the government at the next election, but if all of the 10% vote their wallets we become a small group with the power to change governments.

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]]> John Shingleton () Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:53:10 +1000 Comment by Bill C () We are in the same boat. We are 62, recently retired, and living off our supper. Not paying tax, but get no benefits.
I have written to both my local member (government) and the Libs and asked them both to take up our case.
Am tempted to write to the Greens and Independants as well.

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]]> Bill C () Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:59:26 +1000 Comment by Tricia O () Welcome to the club, folks! I would qualify for the coveted Seniors Healthcare Card on financial criteria, but miss out because I'm "only" 62. My pension is modest and my part-time work earnings are meagre. Everyone thinks self-funded retirees are fat cats, but nothing could be further from the truth.

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]]> Tricia O () Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:13:41 +1000 <![CDATA[ Comment by Helen & Peter B () ]]> Yes, we're in the same boat. Been careful with our money, but not rich, self funded retirees, aged 62 and 63. Missed out unfairly on the stimulus package, and now ignored again with the carbon tax. Certainly makes us very angry. Perhaps we should forget about being self funded and spend most of our money, and put our hands out for unemployment benefits now and old age pension at 65. There is certainly no gratitude from the government for being a saver. We draw a total annual amount of $38,000 for the two of us from our allocated pension, and do some part time work at present, but not enough to be a tax payer.

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]]> Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:22:01 +1000 Comment by Austins () One of us (couple) is retired, the other earning $16000 part time in the workforce at 64 !!!! - drawing down Super to supplement our income . All of this is our hard earned savings, never taken a cent of government money in out lives, lived frugally always and it seems we have to cop the entire impact of this Carbon Tax. I can see why it is being implemented but I don't understand why we are the only group not to get the same compensation (indeed any) as everyone else. Very angry indeed - my voting intentions are very much under review at this point.

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]]> Austins () Mon, 11 Jul 2011 16:51:39 +1000 Comment by David C () This is not an acceptible state of affairs. This Labour government seems to tink self funded retirees are rolling in loot. Not so. I have a family with two school age children to support.
I had to access my superannuation at age 55 as living in Regional Australia, my job was made redundant in a bid to centralise yet again in the bloated mainland capital cities.
Along with other self funded retirees, I have taken a huge hit to my super savings due to the ongoing GFC and having to draw down on it at the bottom of the market.
I could not get a job in my field without moving to Melbourne, which is not a viable option at my age and having to make a new start in an over inflated property market. I too missed out on the "Harvey Norman" handout, and this is the last straw.
It's ironic, isn't it that having been a paid up Union member all my life (by employer mandate), and my dues being used to support this pack of wasters, they then turn their back on me and screw me over and over again. They say they want workers to provide for their own retirement, then continually discriminate against them.
My advice to all is blow your super then go on a state sponsered pension. At least you ten get looked after.
Politically, it is madness to alienate such a large group of voters while throwing money at people still actively employed.

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]]> David C () Mon, 11 Jul 2011 18:02:17 +1000 Comment by Jane () The reason that politicians ignore the self funded retirees is because we are largely a fairly passive peaceful group who do not make waves. Time to become a bit more militant, shout loud and coordinate some activity. I have just become a self funded retiree and I am going to be spendng some of that new time I have looking at what avenues we have to have a voice!
285000 people is not trivial and the numbers are going to increase. So fellow retirees - get mad, get active, get vocal and whatever you do make it clear to this patronising, arrogant and dishonest bunch of politicians (who will be burning carbon at our expense - not their own!) who are destroying the country, that we are a force to be reckoned with. We have skills, wisdom and some time to really get some action going as long as we unify!
So let's get going......

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]]> Jane () Mon, 11 Jul 2011 19:11:54 +1000 Comment by Volunteer () As a widowed self-funded retiree under 65 drawing around $28,000 pa from my super. I'm guessing I too will not be compensated for the carbon tax as I don't have a HCC and don't pay tax. I do over 30 hours of voluntary work each week, which may have to cease so I can seek paid work to help pay for increased bills due to carbon tax. Will Julia compensate the charities I currently support with my voluntary work after I'm forced to leave?

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]]> Volunteer () Mon, 11 Jul 2011 21:52:15 +1000 <![CDATA[ Comment by Phil & Marg C () ]]> Marg and I are 57 and 63 respectively. We are self-funded retirees who have looked after our money, paid our taxes, and paid our way. We have small super-annuation salaries and allocated pensions hit somewhat by the GFC. I missed the stimulus package, which provided such essentials as large plasma televisions to many of our friends and relatives, and we are now being denied any sort of compensation for this tax. We understand the need to tackle climate change, but we can't see why we have been unfairly over-looked. We can hardly wait for the next election. We are particularly incensed by the report of a comment by Wayne Swan to the effect that self-funded retirees, having missed out on the stimulus package, would be helped this time. Thank you Mr Swan, and don't worry, we will remember that.

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]]> Mon, 11 Jul 2011 22:44:41 +1000 Comment by Rose J () Good to hear lots of comments from mine earlier. As I support the carbon tax I am prepared to wear it as such(and assuming I will have a Health card in a couple of years) as I believe we've lived in the best of times and have some responsibility to future generations..however it is more the "moral issue" that a whole group is overlooked. Self funded retirees on incomes less than mine will find it difficult I think..I will manage.

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]]> Rose J () Tue, 12 Jul 2011 11:17:02 +1000 Comment by Geoff R () I get by on a very small self-funded pension plus bank interest (from savings due to selling my home & about to start owner-building a place for retirement). Ageism (I'm 60) means that jobs are hard to come by - Centrelink do nothing to help because my savings make me ineligible for govt. assistance. To get a carbon tax (which I support) rebate, it seems that once I've built my home I will have to put my remaining savings 'under the mattress' and claim a part-workstart allowance. I have never claimed any government benefits and had no intention of doing so until I became eligible a part-pension at 65.

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]]> Geoff R () Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:10:30 +1000 Comment by Karen () I couldn't agree more. We really made sacrifices to put all we could into super. Have never taken anything from the government. We felt we were doing the 'right' thing. Now we look around and see how other people are managing their retirement by just keeping under the threshold and still getting all the handouts. I think I would do things differently if I had to do it all again.

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]]> Karen () Fri, 05 Aug 2011 11:29:30 +1000 Comment by Bob () Like you guys, my wife and I are self-funded on less than the $80K limit, but as we are reasonably healthy and under 65 we are ineligible for pharmaceutical benefits, any sort of pension, or these Labour Government "hand-outs" (Rudd's Stimulus Package, or Gillard's Carbon Tax offset) that anyone already receiving any kind of Government assistance gets.
It stinks, it really does! Yes, we went through our working life paying our taxes, paying for private health cover, and watching every cent carefully so that we could be self-funded in retirement ... yet now we are overlooked for any benefit that other pensioners receive, when they are already on Government-assisted income! We get absolutely nothing from the Government, yet we cost them and other tax payers nothing to sustain. How is that fair, or the Australian way?
How the Hell do we get through to our Government about our plight, especially during these times of economic turmoil where our ability to earn reliable income from investment is in constant disarray, and we are finding it increasingly difficult to make a decent living?

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]]> Bob () Wed, 09 May 2012 14:33:16 +1000