Mike@Bonbeach

Both Connie's and my pensions get paid in Australia around about this time of the month and they always get affected by the RBA's interest rate decision. It doesn't seem to matter if the RBA's decision is to reduce, increase or as today, leave on hold, the pound still falls and our pensions take a tumble. Do you think if I write to the RBA and ask them to change the date of their meetings to say more in the middle of the month they would say 'OK Mike, just for you'. Nahh, I didn't think so.

Shop around for your car insurance with a company such as iselect. Just because a company goes on tele saying they can offer you big savings, don't always believe them. A year or so ago I thought I would give youi a chance to quote, and all through the telephone "interview" , is the car garaged, named drivers, good record etc the rep was saying wonderful, we can save you this, we can save you that and after she had all the info needed she came back with a quote over $400 more than my current one. When I told her she wasn't even in the same ballpark she said that was the best they could do. Also, once you have your policy, when it comes up for renewal don't accept the new premium without shopping around again and use any lower offers to haggle with your current insurer. Mike

According to the paper today it wasn't a magistrate but a bail justice, what ever that is, who turned down the polices advice to refuse him bail. I wonder how that anonymous bail justice is feeling now. Maybe it'll make him/her think twice in the future going against the police's wishes. The death toll is now up to 5 after the 3month old baby boy succumbed to his injuries. Mike

Thanks for that PC, I was hoping that was the case. Mike

With the volatility of the GBPound, does Centrelink need to be informed monthly of the value of your UK pension so that they can adjust the amount of top up (either up or down) or is it done automatically?. It doesn't affect us yet but it will after July this year when we qualify. Mike

Congratulations, that is good news for you. We will be coming up to 10years living in Australia in July and will be applying for the top up plus anything else (concessionwise.. is that a word?). Anything to help out with water, power and rate bills. Oh and car rego. Mike

Oh and here's me thinking that Melbourne was the best city in the world. We only watched about 10 minutes of the lead up to Midnight and I lost count of the number of times the phrase "the worlds most liveable city for the last 6 years". Starting with the Lord Mayor then on to the presenters. And this is a city with an increasing crime rate, murders galore hijacking you name it. Hundreds of homeless setting up on the streets. Beggars on the streets in the CBD. I wasn't too impressed with the fireworks either in Melbourne, $3million for just 10 minutes of repetitive bangs and flashes. Possibly spread over too big an area to be really effective. Ridiculous waste of money. Mike

We did the Melbourne-Glasgow route with Emirates back in August. First leg to Dubai was A380 and the business class was great. The second leg to Glasgow was 777 and the business class was not so luxurious, when the bed was flat my feet felt cramped and I am just a touch under 6 feet. The free chauffeur pick up and drop off at both ends was really appreciated too. Enjoy your flights. Mike

I agree about the food. We spent 6 weeks from last week in August to early October in the UK and found the fruit from M and S was particularly special. OK it may have been a bit more expensive but the plums, peached, nectarines and strawberries were fantastic. As we travelled around a lot we did buy quite a few of their sandwiches. In fact there are some M and S food halls at some motorway service stations now. So wish there were M and S food stores in Australia. Haven't been able to find anything to compare (fruitwise) here in the 9.5 years we've been here. The only other place to match the fruit was in France at the local markets. (IMO). Mike

A Teddy boy/ rocker?

This thread seems to have been side stepped. I for one would like to know what it was. (sorry, not into Punk stuff). Mike

Black and white television set. Glass milk bottle. Fish and chips wrapped in newspaper.

LIGHTNING not lightening. Mike. Seems to be a common mistake here. Even on my golf club's website they talk about what will happen if lightening is in the area.

I forgot to mention the website for Premium Bonds is http://www.nsandi.com Good luck if you get some. Mike

Depending on what your thoughts are on investment. We had some Premium Bonds before we came to Australia and have added to the amount since and rarely a month goes by that either one or both of us doesn't win something. OK it may only be a small 25 Pounds but that is better than nothing and there is always the chance of something bigger. Mike

Thank you both Alan and datstheone. Unfortunately I didn't keep records of my salary levels beyond about 5 years, ditching anything older than that, and of course once I retired(1990) I kept to the same time frame so virtually all my salary records except the final year were ditched. Had no idea that they would be needed 25 years later!!!. If the pension fund isn't able to help then maybe Alan's idea of the Inland Revenue may be the way to go, but would they keep anything going back 45 years, it was probably all paper records then. Thanks for your inputs Guys, much appreciated. Gives me some hope anyway. Mike

Thank you Alan for the response, but all employees in the scheme I was in had to contribute. For 18 years it was 5% of my salary and then reduced to 3% for the final 2 years, so all in all quite a sizeable contribution, and I believe it was taken out of my salary after tax. The employer then matched or even exceeded my contribution. The last contact I had with the ATO (yesterday) the person at the other end of the phone suggested that I fill out the form as complete as possible, and send it off with a covering letter explaining the difficulty in obtaining the figures the ATO want, so I will give that a go. I even tried to get a face to face interview with someone in the local ATO but that was declined. Mike

Hi all you senior citizens out there. We all know that we are eligible for 8% tax allowance against our UK Age pension, but has anyone actually been able to claim a UPP deduction for their private pension?. We have the forms all filled in (Request for determination of the deductible amount of UPP of a foreign pension or annuity) except for the question 8 where it asks to provide the exact amount of personal contributions made to the Pension fund over the years of employment. I have been in touch with my pension provider who is having great difficulty in coming up with the information mainly because the company I worked for has changed hands at least twice since I left them and records are hard /impossible to come by. It was 1990 when I retired. All they can come up with is the fact that the scheme was a final salary scheme and records of contributions over 20 years from 1970 to 1990 are lost back in the distant past. I have tried the ATO who tells me that only the UK Aged Pension is eligible for UPP deductions, yet on the British Pensioners (BAPA) someone on there says they are claiming it for their Teachers Pension. I have been at this for well over a year now and really haven't progressed very far, and if I am entitled to the deduction then we are losing in the region of$2000 per year in over payment of tax depending on the %age allowed. My question is "Has anyone been able to claim UPP on their private pension?." Here's hoping to hear some good news. Mike

Thanks for that toOZ2012, looks like it will be repaid on the anniversary of our landing. I will have to check to make sure our son notified humanservices that we have in fact arrived. Mike

Our Assurance of Support bond becomes repayable next year, does anyone know whether it gets repaid on the 10 year anniversary of it being paid or on the 10 year anniversary of the date of our arrival in Australia?. There was a 4 month gap between the two dates. Mike

Lyme disease has been an occasional topic for discussion on current affairs programs in Australia for a couple of years now, and it seems by all accounts by the Medical Association that Lyme disease doesn't exist, at least it is not recognised in Australia. People who have claimed to have the disease in Australia have had to go out of the country to be treated for it. I don't know how that would affect any future application by you. Good luck with the treatment. Mike

Yes. I heard them say that too, ridiculous. Also the overused word "alleged" on main channel news bulletins. Even when someone is found dead to rights, it is still "alleged'. It seems everyone is afraid to sound direct or state the fact for fear of being sued for misrepresentation or something similar. Mike

Hi FOC Maybe the title is misleading, maybe it should be renamed eg"The most likeable city to visit by business men and Notables". Mike

Having lived in the SE suburbs for 9 years now I am always amazed at these results. The rail track from where I live to the city is pretty much head to toe graffiti, Flinders Street station is an eyesore (IMO). Outside Flinders Street is not much better. I think the MCG is an ugly building certainly from the outside. There is no rail link to the airport. Drunks, beggars and homeless people on the streets. I grant there are some nice places within the city but to be voted the best is in my view mindboggling. Mike

Sounds amazing. Unfortunately on our visit to the UK in 2 weeks time the nearest we'll get to Cornwall is Plymouth, (coming down from Scotland) so will make do with an Ivor Dewdneys or two. Mike