Hi,
My mother (Aged 85) is selling her house to move closer to my sister (NSW Central Coast). She has a 5 bedroom house in Sydney and the Real Estate Agent predicts she should get over 1.4 million.
As she currently only has about $100,000 in the bank she is eligible for the full pension and the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card.
So what we need to know is how much money can she have before losing the pension and health card.
Thanks for Helping
Colin
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/assets/
Tables are at the bottom. I think the key number for you in there is $932,500 if I'm reading it correctly as the cut-off for getting any assitance at all.
Thanks for the reply.
Obviously not worried about the money from the pension but having the health card makes a big difference to her lifestyle.
She worked all her life to 70 years of age would like to see her get something back while other people are out there just "milking" the system
Suppose we can just spend a lot on a new house for her on the Central Coast and leave just have enough cash to stay under the limit
maybe don't worry about what others do, just worry about her own situation?
So how is owning assets over 1 million at the age of 70 and life expectancy of 82 years, wanting get age pension and health card is not milking the system?
Why she wants to live on our Tax Payers money if she owns 1.4 mil. Give us a break. We already paying too much tax and not getting benefits with our Hard earned money.
Once you liquidate your principal residence it will become assessable assets. If she spends the $1.4m on a new residence somewhere new you'd think she'd be in exactly the same situation as currently and wouldn't lose her entitlement/s. If she keeps the $1.4m in the bank she can/and should expect her pension to completely cut out.
With over a million cash you can't expect to keep the government to continue to pay you. It's either sunk into your residence or it's assessable. A full pension is peanuts compared to the collateral and investment potential she will release by selling the home, she may actually be better off. Keeping the pension shouldn't necessarily be the highest priority.
This. Buy a high valued property in central coast so she can have a principle place of residence and keep the pension and health care card
Though is it worth spending all that money on a property that may not be neccessary just to keep a $15k per annum pension? An 85 year old may no longer require a million dollar plus property and be happy in a $400k unit. Ultimately, professional financial advice is required if you don't intend to purchase a property of similar value.
once she sells the place she will have too much money, gifting it etc wont solve this.
anyone with 1.4 million at their dispoal shouldnt be trying to scrape 300 a week of the government, its a safety net unfortunatly….