Guest Guest66881 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 I had 17 years working there, so the folding was never going to be forgettable. :jiggy: I got in 26 and i forgot all about my pension til now lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest66881 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Interesting read: It's an Australian tradition up there with two-up, barbecues and Goon of Fortune: gather around the television set on budget night and ask - what's in it for me? If you're a pensioner, a working family or a farmer, there is usually much to dissect. You might be a winner, you might be a loser, but either way you can be guaranteed the treasurer of the day will want to tinker with your future. Not so those of us who are young, urban, childless, bitter and alone - the cupboard-under-the-stairs segment of society. Generation Y, generally described as being born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s, is now largely in that sweet spot between tertiary education and child-rearing, almost untouched by the edges of policy making. So what is in the second Hockey budget for this august cohort? There is some good news for those who are struggling to land a job. The government has backed down from last year's controversial plan to take unemployed people under 30 off welfare for six months. Instead, those under 25 seeking the dole will have to wait four weeks before they can receive payments. It will hit government coffers by $1.8 billion over five years but come as a relief for jobseekers and the recently retrenched, who won't be left to starve for half a year. People who are in jobs and paying taxes will face something of a crackdown. One of the rude shocks awaiting graduates who find permanent employment is watching a decent chunk of fortnightly income disappear in the form of HECS payments. "It's all right - I'll just move overseas!" exclaim many a sprightly young professional. But a posting to London or New York may be less lucrative under a plan to recover tuition debts from people who have been overseas for more than six months. © Ocean/Corbis Hang in there, chap. You can move overseas! Right?Debtors will be required to make repayments at the same rate as they would have in Australia, raising $26 million over four years, according to Treasury estimates. A potential alternative is to start a small business rather than surrender to the corporate grind. Incorporated small businesses will enjoy a tax cut from 30 per cent to 28.5 per cent. And in a further bonanza, small business with a turnover of less than $2 million can claim any equipment purchase as an immediate tax deduction. It is a budget that makes it more attractive strike out independently, with employees of start-ups able to receive tax breaks on shares they receive as part of their remuneration. But perhaps the biggest impact on the bitter, lonely husks of Generation Y will be the so-called "Netflix tax" - the application of the GST to online purchases from overseas. It is this vacant consumption of movies, eBooks and Taylor Swift albums that allows us to escape the monotony of our empty, childless existence. The measure is expected to net $350 million over the forward estimates, and it's hard to see Game of Thrones addicts forgoing an episode due to a 10 per cent tax rise. Gratuitous televised violence can only get you so far. For the single and loveless, vicarious charity is one of the few ways we can feel good about ourselves; knowing that a small portion of our tax dollars will help feed starving orphans in sub-Saharan Africa or build bridges in the typhoon-ravaged Philippines. Alas, even that humble altruistic outlet has been narrowed in this budget, with aid to Africa cut by 70 per cent. In lieu of government generosity, we may be forced to donate to those pesky backpackers clutching buckets in the street (though there may be fewer of them) - or adopt a cat, whatever gets the goodwill endorphins flowing. In reality, the hipsters and yuppies of Newtown and Fitzroy needn't bother looking up from their iPhones and lattes to take stock of this year's budget. The big movements are around business, families, pensions and health. That's as it ever was - and, if we're being honest, probably how it should be. http://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/federal-budget-2015-so-youre-young-childless-bitter-and-alone-whats-joe-hockey-given-you/ar-BBjHgj3?ocid=obau1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celt Down Under Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 I got in 26 and i forgot all about my pension til now lol. Aahhmmmmm, my reminding you comes at cost Paul. One beer if we ever meet. A tidy sum that will be when you start collecting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johndoe Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 He probably only looked at the headline JD and didn't read the article. I think Aus's pension rules are pretty generous TBH. That's usually on top of the private super that everyone has. Yes Paul, I'd be well fooked if it weren't for the generous Aussie system. Cashed all my endowments in to raise money to get here and scrimped and scraped to get as much into the ex's superann as possible thinking I'd be living off that..........not to be but I'll get by...............and.....................with a smile on my face :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johndoe Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 I got in 26 and i forgot all about my pension til now lol. And don't forget about the "graduated" element of it Paul..............it's not just the basic but the basic with the graduated bit added on, if you paid it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 I'm close to retirement age too Celt. Strange how you never really think about it till it sneaks up on you.:wink: I've got my transition to retirement pension funds sorted, still working full time though. It's a pretty good tax break isn't it.:cool: Me and the wife sound about the same as you mate, both worked for employers our whole lives, been pretty careful with our money but didn't want to live off beans on toast to pay the mortgage off quicker. We've always gone out and had holidays and stuff when we wanted. Don't spend as much on holidays here as we don't feel like we need them as much as we used to in the UK, every weekend is like a mini holiday. We won't be rolling in it when we retire but hopefully OK. We could always downsize I suppose but we like where we live.:cool: Well that make three of us, just shows what can be done to better oneself without all the whinging and self pity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Good stuff Paul. Feel free to join us on a cruise one day. Nothing like living the life of Riley after a lifetime of working hard and saving for the day. Don't forget to get that claim in for your UK pension. A nice bit of pocket money for you on trips back there. We too will have to downsize one day, because the house is way too large for us now, and one day the acreage will no longer be fun looking after, but hopefully that will be 5 years away at least, when I am 70. We may meet up one day on our cruises CDU & P1P. Linda already gets her UK pension, our spending money when in UK (flying out tonight), I have got 5.5 years of hard labour yet. We lived the dream of a big block of land when we first got here, too much like hard work they are when working the 6days a week, downsized block, upsized house, takes me longer to pick up the dog crap than it does to mow the lawn now! but enjoying life and as time has gone on I am actually looking forward to retirement:smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perthbum Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Australia is very generous with pensions and always has been.Many on the full pension will get more with these changes too. In UK you have to make 30 years of contributions to receive the pension. In Australia, all you have to do is live here. We look after our pensioners very well imo. Garbage, unless you are practically skint you get nothing...the average person does not do that well at all in Oz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 (edited) The pension is a little over $790 per fortnight which is pretty generous in my opinion. How much do you think it should be Perthbum. In addition as a pensioner you get concessions on electricity, water and gas. Edited May 14, 2015 by parleycross Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramot Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Garbage, unless you are practically skint you get nothing...the average person does not do that well at all in Oz. And you know this because, a. You are retired here? b. You are near retirement age here? c. You Know lots of retirees here? Honestly PB, having been retired here for 12 years it's just possible I know plenty of "average retired pensioners" and this might shock you, but most cope just fine. We get reduced rates, car tax, seniors cards for discounts, plus lots more, but from experience it's probably not worth arguing with you, as from your vast experience of life in OZ I expect you know best. Just like UK of course some pensioners will struggle, that's a sad fact of life, but there is good and bad in both countries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celt Down Under Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 (edited) We may meet up one day on our cruises CDU & P1P. Linda already gets her UK pension, our spending money when in UK (flying out tonight), I have got 5.5 years of hard labour yet. We lived the dream of a big block of land when we first got here, too much like hard work they are when working the 6days a week, downsized block, upsized house, takes me longer to pick up the dog crap than it does to mow the lawn now! but enjoying life and as time has gone on I am actually looking forward to retirement:smile: You will have to let me know when you are cruising. We head to the UK for 4 weeks on June 3rd, then the next cruise is in October, unless Val can find room to fit one in before then. What have you planned for your UK trip? A case of adjusting the day to day activities with the lifestyle with downsizing. At the moment the acreage is not a chore, but a pleasure, When it becomes a chore, time to downsize. No pets here. Costs way too much to kennel or cattery them with is travelling so much. On retirement, out sooner rather than later, and follow your financial advisers advice. I should have got out 5 years sooner, when I was 56, when he told us that we were stupid to carry on working. Been retired now for 4 years, and we have enjoyed every day of it. :wink: Have a safe trip, and I hope that it warms up a bit more than it is when you are there. Edited May 14, 2015 by Celt Down Under Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celt Down Under Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Garbage, unless you are practically skint you get nothing...the average person does not do that well at all in Oz. We have met many average Australians when on our cruises PB. They have all seemed to be doing OK. Never a complaint about things, unlike when we go back to the UK and hear plenty of complaints from retirees about how tough things are for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johndoe Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 I got in 26 and i forgot all about my pension til now lol. If you forgot then you must have too much...........send some my way ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johndoe Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Garbage, unless you are practically skint you get nothing...the average person does not do that well at all in Oz. Despite being told that the Oz pension is approx twice that of the Uk pension, and, without having made any contributions, you still persist in typing garbage, merely to pursue your anti-Oz agenda. Try posting facts, as opposed to biased waffle and you may...........and i repeat............may, just gain some crdibilty with the forum members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 You will have to let me know when you are cruising. We head to the UK for 4 weeks on June 3rd, then the next cruise is in October, unless Val can find room to fit one in before then. What have you planned for your UK trip? A case of adjusting the day to day activities with the lifestyle with downsizing. At the moment the acreage is not a chore, but a pleasure, When it becomes a chore, time to downsize. No pets here. Costs way too much to kennel or cattery them with is travelling so much. On retirement, out sooner rather than later, and follow your financial advisers advice. I should have got out 5 years sooner, when I was 56, when he told us that we were stupid to carry on working. Been retired now for 4 years, and we have enjoyed every day of it. :wink: Have a safe trip, and I hope that it warms up a bit more than it is when you are there. Besides the wedding (in Wiltshire), we and 6 other family members will be having a few days in Cornwall, there will be a couple of trips up to Leeds, with a rather large greater family get together there, as there will be the rare occasion of 6 Aussie rellies being in the UK at the same time. Cruise wise, the wedding stuffed up some initial plans we had so now not until next year, Southern Caribbean. However, there was a great re-location cruise from Southampton to Florida via a few stops in the Caribbean we are tempted with, price from about $100 per night Oct/Nov 2016 departure, worth having a look at that CDU. Regarding retiring, when planning my UK pension many many years ago I put down age 55 for accessing it, pipe dreams and wishful thinking on my part, I am sorely tempted to go now and get a lot easier job for these last few years, but I must admit my salary is pretty good, with ute and phone thrown in, so financially it would be a little foolish, but it would not worry me too much if sacked or made redundant. But like yourself and P1P hard work, thinking and planning earlier in life has put us in a decent position in life at present. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celt Down Under Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Besides the wedding (in Wiltshire), we and 6 other family members will be having a few days in Cornwall, there will be a couple of trips up to Leeds, with a rather large greater family get together there, as there will be the rare occasion of 6 Aussie rellies being in the UK at the same time. Cruise wise, the wedding stuffed up some initial plans we had so now not until next year, Southern Caribbean. However, there was a great re-location cruise from Southampton to Florida via a few stops in the Caribbean we are tempted with, price from about $100 per night Oct/Nov 2016 departure, worth having a look at that CDU.Regarding retiring, when planning my UK pension many many years ago I put down age 55 for accessing it, pipe dreams and wishful thinking on my part, I am sorely tempted to go now and get a lot easier job for these last few years, but I must admit my salary is pretty good, with ute and phone thrown in, so financially it would be a little foolish, but it would not worry me too much if sacked or made redundant. But like yourself and P1P hard work, thinking and planning earlier in life has put us in a decent position in life at present. Keith Just read out your message to Val, who is the travel planner, and as I type she is checking on cruises from Southampton for that period. We always go with Royal Caribbean, because we are up there in the ratings and get the free happy 3 1/2 hours a day now. Which cruise line is it that you are looking at? The family get together sounds like fun. There was talk about our family having one a couple of years back, but my eldest sister who lives in Florida wanted us all to got there for it, but I would not, because we do not have our memories from there. My thoughts were that we should have it in North Wales where we were brought up, where our Father and Brother are buried, where our memories are, so it all fell apart. We are spread out, with some in the USA, us here, some in England and some in Wales. We have just come back from doing 2 Caribbean cruises as well as a Translantic, and the 3 we have booked for October goes from Quebec to Fort Lauderdale, (Snowbird cruise), followed by another 2 Caribbean cruises. On retiring, what you are actually doing, is selling your life to the company, for what return at the end of the day. As my adviser said, selling your life will make very little difference to your income once you retire, so that put it in a nutshell for us. What a lot of folk are scared of, is living too long and running out of money. But, why worry about what happen when we are 90 or 95, when we may not be here. :wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skani Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 In addition as a pensioner you get concessions on electricity, water and gas. And council rates and car registration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 And council rates and car registration. Free aches and pains too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Just read out your message to Val, who is the travel planner, and as I type she is checking on cruises from Southampton for that period. We always go with Royal Caribbean, because we are up there in the ratings and get the free happy 3 1/2 hours a day now. Which cruise line is it that you are looking at?The family get together sounds like fun. There was talk about our family having one a couple of years back, but my eldest sister who lives in Florida wanted us all to got there for it, but I would not, because we do not have our memories from there. My thoughts were that we should have it in North Wales where we were brought up, where our Father and Brother are buried, where our memories are, so it all fell apart. We are spread out, with some in the USA, us here, some in England and some in Wales. We have just come back from doing 2 Caribbean cruises as well as a Translantic, and the 3 we have booked for October goes from Quebec to Fort Lauderdale, (Snowbird cruise), followed by another 2 Caribbean cruises. On retiring, what you are actually doing, is selling your life to the company, for what return at the end of the day. As my adviser said, selling your life will make very little difference to your income once you retire, so that put it in a nutshell for us. What a lot of folk are scared of, is living too long and running out of money. But, why worry about what happen when we are 90 or 95, when we may not be here. :wink: 90 or 95 is not even in the picture for us regarding finances and travel, I think we will be long past worrying about anything at that age. But retiring now would be a brave or at least a scary thing to do, but not out of the question, it will only take one unplanned / foreseen thing to turn up which will force our hand so to speak (see the light). I think the cruise line is Royal Caribbean, but could have being Princess, we found it through 'Vacations to go'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celt Down Under Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 90 or 95 is not even in the picture for us regarding finances and travel, I think we will be long past worrying about anything at that age. But retiring now would be a brave or at least a scary thing to do, but not out of the question, it will only take one unplanned / foreseen thing to turn up which will force our hand so to speak (see the light).I think the cruise line is Royal Caribbean, but could have being Princess, we found it through 'Vacations to go'. Exactly my point Keith. Why worry about he "ifs" in life at our age. We too have been through the scary decision making time, but better the bullet being bitten too soon than too late, and dying wealthy. Why leave the kids to squabble over the $$$$$$. Make it easy on them and spend it. Money divides families, so take that out of the equation. LOL I will let Val know that it may be Royal or Princess. Not sure if she has looked at the VTG site. We normally aim for around $100 a night each, and we try and get a some onboard credit as well. We will be hanging round Anglesey and North Wales, mostly, with a visit to Chester and Liverpool as well. I need to access my naval college record which is held at the Maritime Museum in Liverpool, and I will be attending a reunion at the college on Anglesey, which is now an MOD establishment. (50 years since I signed on there in January 1965 aged just short of 15). A few of us will be there from that period, some who I have not seen since 1966. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johndoe Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Any of you done a new Zealand tour? Prices look OK through Vacations to go, sailing from brizzy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Any of you done a new Zealand tour? Prices look OK through Vacations to go, sailing from brizzy My brother did it last year and a group of our friends earlier this year all good with nothing bad recorded. We have only driven around it ourselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celt Down Under Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Any of you done a new Zealand tour? Prices look OK through Vacations to go, sailing from brizzy We did part of NZ on a cruise from Hawaii to Sydney. No problems there, apart from rain. Also drove the South Island a few years ago. Stunning scenery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Exactly my point Keith. Why worry about he "ifs" in life at our age. We too have been through the scary decision making time, but better the bullet being bitten too soon than too late, and dying wealthy. Why leave the kids to squabble over the $$$$$$. Make it easy on them and spend it. Money divides families, so take that out of the equation. LOLI will let Val know that it may be Royal or Princess. Not sure if she has looked at the VTG site. We normally aim for around $100 a night each, and we try and get a some onboard credit as well. We will be hanging round Anglesey and North Wales, mostly, with a visit to Chester and Liverpool as well. I need to access my naval college record which is held at the Maritime Museum in Liverpool, and I will be attending a reunion at the college on Anglesey, which is now an MOD establishment. (50 years since I signed on there in January 1965 aged just short of 15). A few of us will be there from that period, some who I have not seen since 1966. I worked in North Wales many years ago and my sister lived in Prestatyn for a while too. We did North Wales during the last world cup, too cloudy to make it worth going up Snowden though. on the last day we ended up in Chester when England were playing, the two girls went shopping whilst me and the cousin watched the match in the pub. We have used Vacations to go on a few occasions and they have given extra over and above the cabin credit, they were also helpful in getting a special treat sorted for a cruise my brother was on (cunard) Champagne and chocolates awaiting in their cabin, so all good. On our first cruise Linda was talking to fellow female passenger, linda said this was here first cruise, the other lady said she was on her 27th, but she added "my husband does work for cunard" well, Linda says "my husband works hard too! but there is really no need to swear":laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.