single aged pension payment rates

I have been listening on air to people complaining how tough it is on the single aged pension. They amaze me! I have to survive on one half of the married rate which is a lot lower. My wife doesn't qualify due to shortfall on residence. These 'two can live as cheap as one' people should try it, whoever dreamed that statement up should try it!

How many of these people smoke and drink and visit the local casino?

The single aged pension is $933.40 my pension is $703.50 a differece of $229.90 a fortnight.

I suggest these single aged pensioners should take a look at their outgoings. We all want more, however, one has to budget. 

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Many people never seem to have enough but then you see when lunch is over, 90% of the over-65s are streaming straight into the poker machine halls. They all have money for that but rent, power, groceries is a problem.

"90% of the over-65s are streaming straight into the poker machine halls"

Can you prove that, Mariner?  That seems to me to be a large bit of parroting

media and pollies.

 

In the immortal words of Shakespeare, bullshit.

 

Seriously ? Decide they have a problem to justify your argument ?

I do believe they struggle. I couldn't live on that with no bad habits.

Pensioners attacking Pensioners what's this world come to. 

See one elderly person walk into a room with poker machines, and then you can blame all elderly people for doing the same thing. There are many of us who eat at home and don't go near the pokies. 

$933.40 pension per fortnight? wish I got that. Try $793.00 per fortnight and no super.

 

dolbt60 must be mentally ill.

 

neil. 

How rude some people can be away up you fella 

$933.40 pension per fortnight? wish I got that. Try $793.00 per fortnight and no super.

 

dolbt60 must be mentally ill.

 

neil. 

But what situation are you in?  Do you have super, or any other source of income?  If you do, then don't complain.

Think of those of us who have to live on $1071.40 ($933.40 + $138 rent assistance) per fortnight and still have to pay rent!  There are some out here that pay over $200 per week in rent, and have to live on $671.40, as there's a maximum rent assistance that the government will give us, no matter what the rent is over the threshold of $307.20 per fortnight, which is $153.60 per week.  Currently there are no rental properties under $180 per week where I live.  The rents are increasing so much that the difference between what we receive in assistance and the amount we have to pay for just the minimum in 2 bedroom units is spiralling out of control.  I live in a Rural city in NSW and we seem to have some of the cheapest rents going compared to other Rural cities.

Take for example, I moved into a 2 bedroom unit in late 2016 with a rent of $155 per week.  It went up to $160 after the first 12 months.  I moved around the corner and am now paying $170 per week, with some units in the previous address are now asking $180 - 185 per week, and there's a unit in my complex now asking $200 per week!  How do you compete with these prices?

Oh dear!   Don't you realise that the cost of electricity, gas, water, council rates, household insurance and etc. all cost the same regardless of whether there is one person or ten people living in a house!  The only extra cost for more people is for a little extra water and cooking costs - all the others cost the same - one person or two or ten people in a room = same cost for the lighting/heating/cooling/and probably cooking cost - same for rates, insurance and the utilities supply/infrastructure charges.  That is why the single pension is more than half of half of the couple rate.

Yes, two can definitely live cheaper than one - I know because I've been in both situations and I know where I'd rather be! 

 

 

You are right Dancer. Couples on pension really rile me when they complain how bad they are having it. 

Single pension costs are not suddenly reduced because they become a single. I helped care for my elderly aunt who lived over the road from me. She practically raised me, so we are close. Her husband died 4 years ago, and a few months later, I went over to find her crying and very upset (she would have been around 84 then). When I finally got to the bottom of why she was so unhappy she said 'I can't manage on the pension'.  Because it had been very quickly cut from the couple pension to the single pension.

Nearly all her expenses remained the same. Rates, petrol, insurances, rego, power, phone, lawn & yard maintenance. Food and medication costs dropped only marginally. Her pension had reduced 34% - but costs had dropped only around 10-15%. She was so upset, and this had a marked impact on her health and well being. As much as she had wanted to remain in her home, she decided to move into an Aged Care place, to cut and eliminate most of these costs - gave away her much loved car.

Now that I am solely on the single Aged Pension, with very little super, I fully understand her trepidation. I have many friends who are on the couples aged pension, and many times I have had to decline joining them at functions, or seniors events because they have more disposable income than me. Many talk of being petrified should the other partner pass away due to the reduction in their pension.

On the couples pension they can manage OK. Single pension - bloody hard. 

rude people mentally ill

And how do you think those on Newstart survive?

With great difficuly ask that wanker Neil he will tell you

Are we getting a bit personal, dolbt60? We all are allowed different opinons.

Seems to me the complaint is really about the fact that his wife doesn't qualify for a pension. Too bad.

Yes too bad isn't it ? 

Mariner,

Yes, people living in government housing are lucky.  But they can be tossed out like ordinary people.  It all depends on when they started living in their house.

If it was before 1995 [or around that time] then you come under the old regime - unless you do something drastically wrong you have a house for life.
After that time you are on a lease the same as people in private rentals and can be tossed out the same as them as well.

Too many people were getting government housing and trashing them, doing flits, but still expecting to be able to just get another house [and do the same over and over].  

 

So if you were in them before 1995 and now you are working or your income has increased for other reasons you can still keep your housing commission house? I don't think that is fair when we have a shortage of public housing for low income people.

 

Mariner

"Many people never seem to have enough but then you see when lunch is over, 90% of the over-65s are streaming straight into the poker machine halls. They all have money for that but rent, power, groceries is a problem."

You are assuming that all these pensioners that you see, are actually getting a government pension.  How do you know that most of them are not Self Funded?  In which case how they spend THEIR money has nothing to do with you!
Even if they are gettingan aged pension you are AGAIN assuming that the are having a problem paying their rent etc.  It just could be that they have saved up for this once a fortnight/ month /bi year or yearly pleasure.  Are you such a miser that you begrudge them a bit of joy in their lives?????

Oh, by the way assuming just makes an ASS out of U!

 

Not quite musicveg,  even if you are in them pre 1995 and start working you need to be under the threshold that the Dept of Housing has - otherwise they will ask you to vacate the house within a reasonable time.
What I think is ridiculous, is keeping houses vacant if a person is sentenced to jail.  I know at one time they would keep it for 5 years but I think that they changed that and it is a lot less now.

 

So people could easily say they are under the threshold especially if they are self-employed. Yes I think if you go to jail you should immediately have to give up the house unless there is kids staying in the house.

Totally agree "older and wiser" on a single pensiowho could manage if my daughter didn't live with me, I would need to take on lodgers.

 

 

And then Centrelink would reduce your pension because of the income you were getting! 

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