
Does Trish Power offer personal financial planning advice?
Q: I have met many financial planners including 3 independent ones, but they don’t seem to know much and all said different things. They don’t seem to show interest and care for my retirement.
Can you access super to pay your mortgage if you’re unemployed?
Can he access some of his super to make payments on the house while he is unemployed as he does not want to lose his house he has had for the past 12 years?
How is capital gains calculated for a pensioner?
Q: I’m a pensioner with one investment property in Tasmania, which I sold a month ago been sell out. My question is how capital gains is calculated for a pensioner? I don’t know anything about this, so could you please [...]
When I start accessing super, will that be counted as an asset?
Q: When I start drawing from my super after I turned 55, will my super then count as an asset? As my partner is over 65 most of our money is in my super and we are eligible for the pension.
How does my super benefit affect my Age Pension entitlements?
Q: When I retire I will be 61 and my husband will be over 65 and will be eligible for either a full or part old age pension. If I keep my super in an accumulation account and withdraw lump sums to cover additional living expenses, how will this effect my husband’s pension benefits? Is this the best way to maximise our retirement funding?

Is a SMSF account balance counted as an ‘asset’ for the Youth Allowance assets test?
Is a SMSF counted as an ‘asset’ in the test for Youth Allowance and similarly is the tax free income gained from it (recipient over 60) counted as income?

Case studies: Am I eligible for the Age Pension?
Around 80% of retired Australians receive a part or full Age Pension which means most Aussies considering retirement will need to understand how the Age Pension rules operate. This article contains three case studies illustrating how the Age Pension works in practice.

Free retirement planning assistance now available
You’re starting to think about your retirement but you’re not sure if you want a full-blown financial plan just yet. Perhaps you may not be able to afford a full financial plan, or you may be uncertain how to go about finding an adviser or unsure as to what qualities to look for in an adviser.

Accessing my husband’s superannuation (age 62)
Q: I am 71 years old. I do not get the age pension because my husband is 62 years old and still working and receives a salary of $70,000 gross per year. Is it possible for him to take out part of his superannuation and still continue to work and pay out the balance of our Mortgage of $100,000?

Superannuation contributions after 60
Q: I am 61 and have never made contributions to super. Should we put $300,000 into my super? Buy a flat and continue as is? Buy a flat and start contributing as much as possible to my super?

Early release of superannuation forms
Q: I have been trying to access your on line early release application forms for 2 weeks with no result. Could you please e-mail me the forms. It is due to mortgage/compassionate grounds. We are merely an information site rather than [...]


