Aged Parent visa 804

[Tulip1]

8 minutes ago, LindaH27 said:

I

Im in nearly the same position as your mum !   I worked for my own state pension too as well as getting my late husbands state pension. 
 

Attendance Allowance (which I don’t get) is normally  paid as part of the retirement pension though.  It’s not usually paid separately. 

That’s not correct. It’s completely separate and always paid as such. The state pension payment comes through with the reference SP and the attendance allowance comes through as a totally separate payment on a different day with the reference AA.  Nothing to do with each other at all. My mums state pension has always been that high (it’s only ever gone up a few pounds each year like everyone elses) and a few years ago I applied for attendance allowance for her which was granted and that is separate. She will get an annual letter from DWP stating her state pension amount is xxx and she will get a completely separate letter stating her attendance allowance is xxx.

Edited January 3, 2021 by Tulip1

[LindaH27]

Just now, Tulip1 said:

That’s not correct. It’s completely separate and always paid as such. The state pension payment comes through with the reference SP and the attendance allowance comes through as a totally separate payment on a different day with the reference AA.  Nothing to do with each other at all. My mums state pension has always been that high (it’s only ever gone up a few pounds each year like everyone elses) and a few years ago I applied for attendance allowance be for her which was granted and that is separate. She will get an annual letter from DWP stating her state pension amount is xxx and she will get a completely separate letter stating her attendance allowance is xxx.

Both my late parents had AA paid in with their Retirement pensions after they applied for it. The annual updating notice would show the the various elements that made up the payment and it included  AA. However they would be 95 and 100 by now if they were still alive so possibly things were done differently then. 
 

I worked in Retirement Pension in DSS for years  when I was younger -   maybe I need to have a chat with them about my  state pension rates! I was working in  different departments before I retired so maybe things changed again but I do get my pension under the pre 2016 rates 

[Tulip1]

2 hours ago, LindaH27 said:

Both my late parents had AA paid in with their Retirement pensions after they applied for it. The annual updating notice would show the the various elements that made up the payment and it included  AA. However they would be 95 and 100 by now if they were still alive so possibly things were done differently then. 
 

I worked in Retirement Pension in DSS for years  when I was younger -   maybe I need to have a chat with them about my  state pension rates! I was working in  different departments before I retired so maybe things changed again but I do get my pension under the pre 2016 rates 

It must have changed then as 100% the attendance allowance is totally different. You have to be state pension age to apply for it but it’s completely separate. There is no connection between that payment and the state pension payment and they are credited separately with their own reference. 

[LindaH27]

@Gemini apologies I seem to have hijacked your original post!! 

Its given me food for thought though so think I’ll be doing some checking up on my pension! I know they got my mums wrong twice after my father died.  

 Sorry - hope we get back on track if you have any further queries to do with your original post!!  

[Tulip1]

1 hour ago, LindaH27 said:

@Gemini apologies I seem to have hijacked your original post!! 

Its given me food for thought though so think I’ll be doing some checking up on my pension! I know they got my mums wrong twice after my father died.  

 Sorry - hope we get back on track if you have any further queries to do with your original post!!  

Yes apologies to @Gemini

 

Edited January 3, 2021 by Tulip1

[Gemini]

57 minutes ago, Tulip1 said:

Yes apologies to @Gemini

 

I should be getting mine this year at age 66yrs so will be interested to see if it's anything like the pension forecast

[MillieB]

3 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

It must have changed then as 100% the attendance allowance is totally different. You have to be state pension age to apply for it but it’s completely separate. There is no connection between that payment and the state pension payment and they are credited separately with their own reference. 

I work for DWP and Attendance Allowance is a completely different benefit to State Pension but the payments can be combined, so they are made as one payment.  Newer claims tend to be paid separately though. 

[LindaH27]

41 minutes ago, MillieB said:

I work for DWP and Attendance Allowance is a completely different benefit to State Pension but the payments can be combined, so they are made as one payment.  Newer claims tend to be paid separately though. 

I’m ex DWP so that’s what I thought as well.but as I’m now retired I wasn’t aware of any payment changes. 

[LindaH27]

1 hour ago, Gemini said:

I should be getting mine this year at age 66yrs so will be interested to see if it's anything like the pension forecast

Hope it’s all good! . I think the problems seem to arise after being widowed rather than first claim to retirement pension. 

[Tulip1]

1 hour ago, MillieB said:

I work for DWP and Attendance Allowance is a completely different benefit to State Pension but the payments can be combined, so they are made as one payment.  Newer claims tend to be paid separately though. 

Thank you for clearing that up. I knew without doubt my mums was paid separately to her state pension.  She’s had it for just over 2 years now so probably falls into the newer claims category. I don’t think it was ever an option to combine it  with her state pension but I maybe missed that choice.  It’s all good though.  

[Tulip1]

1 hour ago, LindaH27 said:

I’m ex DWP so that’s what I thought as well.but as I’m now retired I wasn’t aware of any payment changes. 

So pleased that’s been cleared up for us.  We were both right, your parents would have had it as a combined payment and my mum being a newish claimant doesn’t. 

[Wanderer Returns]

9 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

It must have changed then as 100% the attendance allowance is totally different. You have to be state pension age to apply for it but it’s completely separate. There is no connection between that payment and the state pension payment and they are credited separately with their own reference. 

My mum (who passed on in 2017) used to get AA and it was a separate payment on her bank statement to her state pension, which was £157/week (£680/month) from recollection. £900/month seems very high for the SP on it's own, although if the two payments were combined then that sounds about right. However, you wouldn't be entitled to receive AA if you lived in Australia, would you? - so you couldn't budget for that amount if you were retiring over here. 

In my humble opinion, if you didn't qualify for the Australian Aged Pension and the UK state pension was your only source of income, you'd be destined for a life of beans on toast in your twilight years. Compared with the UK, food here (apart from a few items) is hellishly expensive. It irritates me when you hear people state that 'the cost of living in Australia is roughly the same as in the UK' because it's very misleading. Either they have money coming out of their ears so they don't compare prices, are basing their calculations on £1=$3 when they emigrated 20 years ago - or they just never passed O level Maths!

It'll be almost a year to the day since I arrived back (6 months for my wife) and when we look at how much we spend on groceries a month and other essential items, I wonder if we could survive here after my private pension(s) ran out. We are thinking about moving overseas when I'm 60 and then returning to Australia when I'm 67, so there'll be a bit more left in the pot. You can get a retirement visa to live in Portugal for a maximum of 10 years, during which time you only pay 10% tax on your overseas income, which is looking like an attractive option - unless they change the rules.

Edited January 4, 2021 by Wanderer Returns

[Tulip1]

6 hours ago, Wanderer Returns said:

My mum (who passed on in 2017) used to get AA and it was a separate payment on her bank statement to her state pension, which was £157/week (£680/month) from recollection. £900/month seems very high for the SP on it's own, although if the two payments were combined then that sounds about right. However, you wouldn't be entitled to receive AA if you lived in Australia, would you? - so you couldn't budget for that amount if you were retiring over here. 

In my humble opinion, if you didn't qualify for the Australian Aged Pension and the UK state pension was your only source of income, you'd be destined for a life of beans on toast in your twilight years. Compared with the UK, food here (apart from a few items) is hellishly expensive. It irritates me when you hear people state that 'the cost of living in Australia is roughly the same as in the UK' because it's very misleading. Either they have money coming out of their ears so they don't compare prices, are basing their calculations on £1=$3 when they emigrated 20 years ago - or they just never passed O level Maths!

It'll be almost a year to the day since I arrived back (6 months for my wife) and when we look at how much we spend on groceries a month and other essential items, I wonder if we could survive here after my private pension(s) ran out. We are thinking about moving overseas when I'm 60 and then returning to Australia when I'm 67, so there'll be a bit more left in the pot. You can get a retirement visa to live in Portugal for a maximum of 10 years, during which time you only pay 10% tax on your overseas income, which is looking like an attractive option - unless they change the rules.

Attendance allowance is £89 per week. She gets this plus the amount I quoted for the pension. She gets the higher rate of attendance allowance now, it used to be less. She is now in a care home with advanced dementia needing round the clock care. You’re right though that if a pensioner was to move to Australia they’d only get their state pension. I don’t see how anyone could live on that in Australia. It is more expensive to live there and wages reflect that. In the UK if someone only had the state pension they’d be entitled to a top up called pension credit. They’d also pay minimum council tax or no council tax if they were deemed as lacking mental capacity.  As my mums dementia worsened, a doctor signed a form saying she lacked capacity and she no longer had to pay council tax. These things all helped in those days as she was having carers in twice a day so it went towards paying for that.  The AA still does help a little now she’s a self funder in a care home which costs a fortune. 

[Gemini]

21 hours ago, Wanderer Returns said:

My mum (who passed on in 2017) used to get AA and it was a separate payment on her bank statement to her state pension, which was £157/week (£680/month) from recollection. £900/month seems very high for the SP on it's own, although if the two payments were combined then that sounds about right. However, you wouldn't be entitled to receive AA if you lived in Australia, would you? - so you couldn't budget for that amount if you were retiring over here. 

In my humble opinion, if you didn't qualify for the Australian Aged Pension and the UK state pension was your only source of income, you'd be destined for a life of beans on toast in your twilight years. Compared with the UK, food here (apart from a few items) is hellishly expensive. It irritates me when you hear people state that 'the cost of living in Australia is roughly the same as in the UK' because it's very misleading. Either they have money coming out of their ears so they don't compare prices, are basing their calculations on £1=$3 when they emigrated 20 years ago - or they just never passed O level Maths!

It'll be almost a year to the day since I arrived back (6 months for my wife) and when we look at how much we spend on groceries a month and other essential items, I wonder if we could survive here after my private pension(s) ran out. We are thinking about moving overseas when I'm 60 and then returning to Australia when I'm 67, so there'll be a bit more left in the pot. You can get a retirement visa to live in Portugal for a maximum of 10 years, during which time you only pay 10% tax on your overseas income, which is looking like an attractive option - unless they change the rules.

Thanks Wanderer Returns, we've got many things to take into consideration and plenty of time to do it with lockdown restrictions :). One of the worries of course is a fluctuating exchange rate if all your income is from the UK. I'm going through all our expenditure so I can do a better comparison. What percentage higher would you say the cost of living is in Australia? It seems you've been back recently & your hometown is not far from where we live. I'm sounding like a stalker here but have read some of your other posts. I remember the first time we came to Oz in 2010 -  the exchange rate was 1.48 AUD to £1!    Nearly fainted when I saw the prices in Coles & Woolworths. Then we found an Aldi so that was ok:)

[Marisawright]

23 hours ago, Wanderer Returns said:

In my humble opinion, if you didn't qualify for the Australian Aged Pension and the UK state pension was your only source of income, you'd be destined for a life of beans on toast in your twilight years.

I'd say worse than that.  Remember, the UK state pension is frozen at whatever the rate is when you leave the UK - you never get any increases, and you lose all allowances. If your UK pension is barely enough to live on now, imagine trying to live on that same amount in 10 or 15 years' time!   

23 hours ago, Wanderer Returns said:

Compared with the UK, food here (apart from a few items) is hellishly expensive. It irritates me when you hear people state that 'the cost of living in Australia is roughly the same as in the UK' because it's very misleading. Either they have money coming out of their ears so they don't compare prices, are basing their calculations on £1=$3 when they emigrated 20 years ago

That's interesting feedback.  I'm one of those who says, based on my time in the UK in 2015, that the cost of living is much the same.  However, I didn't mean that supermarket shopping costs the same.   I meant that some things are more expensive and some are cheaper, but we found that overall, we were spending about the same amount of money every month as we did in Australia.  But as they say, "your experience may vary".  For instance, we eat out a lot, and we found that eating out in the UK was massively more expensive - which offset the cheaper groceries.  There were lots of other little things, some cheaper, some more expensive, which is why it's so difficult to calculate.  All we could do was look at our total expenditure each month and it was about the same.  But then, the exchange rate wasn't in our favour.

Edited January 5, 2021 by Marisawright

[Wanderer Returns]

2 hours ago, Gemini said:

Thanks Wanderer Returns, we've got many things to take into consideration and plenty of time to do it with lockdown restrictions :). One of the worries of course is a fluctuating exchange rate if all your income is from the UK. I'm going through all our expenditure so I can do a better comparison. What percentage higher would you say the cost of living is in Australia? It seems you've been back recently & your hometown is not far from where we live. I'm sounding like a stalker here but have read some of your other posts. I remember the first time we came to Oz in 2010 -  the exchange rate was 1.48 AUD to £1!    Nearly fainted when I saw the prices in Coles & Woolworths. Then we found an Aldi so that was ok:)

There's a great site called Numbeo (which being a complete anorak, I love) where you can do economic comparisons between towns and cities around the world. I've done one between Chesterfield and Brisbane - link below. You would expect Brisbane to be more expensive of course because it's a major city, so it's not really comparing apples with apples, but if you're moving to Brisbane anyway then it will give you some idea how your finances will be impacted. Groceries are 50% more expensive, and rent is a whopping 100% more. Overall consumer prices are about 25% higher not including rent, assuming you intend to buy your own property.

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+Kingdom&country2=Australia&city1=Chesterfield&city2=Brisbane 

 

45 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

I'd say worse than that.  Remember, the UK state pension is frozen at whatever the rate is when you leave the UK - you never get any increases, and you lose all allowances. If your UK pension is barely enough to live on now, imagine trying to live on that same amount in 10 or 15 years' time!   

That's interesting feedback.  I'm one of those who says, based on my time in the UK in 2015, that the cost of living is much the same.  However, I didn't mean that supermarket shopping costs the same.   I meant that some things are more expensive and some are cheaper, but we found that overall, we were spending about the same amount of money every month as we did in Australia.  But as they say, "your experience may vary".  For instance, we eat out a lot, and we found that eating out in the UK was massively more expensive - which offset the cheaper groceries.  There were lots of other little things, some cheaper, some more expensive, which is why it's so difficult to calculate.  All we could do was look at our total expenditure each month and it was about the same.  But then, the exchange rate wasn't in our favour.

I think you're right, Marisa - our overall cost of living will depend on our spending habits. We hardly ever eat out (maybe once a month, and then it's only sushi), and I can see that restaurant prices here are definitely cheaper here than in the UK. That said, they aren't as cheap as cooking at home! We are also renting at the moment until we've sold our house in the UK, so that's really eating into our finances too. The place we're renting at the moment is $470/week, which equates to £1130/month, and we rented a similar sized place in Chesterfield for 6 months about 3 years ago, and our monthly rent was just £625/month - so less than half. If you want decent clothes here, they are very expensive here. One thing that is cheap is petrol, but none of us can driver very far at the moment!

I also like a couple of beers in the evening, and for some unearthly reason beer is also very expensive while wine is cheap as chips. My wife says I should give up as I'm always complaining about the price, whereas I've been thinking about brewing my own!  

[Marisawright]

44 minutes ago, Wanderer Returns said:

There's a great site called Numbeo ...

I think you're right, Marisa - our overall cost of living will depend on our spending habits. ...

I also like a couple of beers in the evening, and for some unearthly reason beer is also very expensive while wine is cheap as chips. My wife says I should give up as I'm always complaining about the price, whereas I've been thinking about brewing my own!  

I remember looking at Numbeo when we were thinking of going back to the UK - then getting to the UK and realising I shouldn't have relied on it, because it was wildly inaccurate. I guess it's like Wikipedia, only as accurate as the private individuals who contribute the data.   

The cost of alcohol is largely due to tax. This is an old article but a lot of it still applies.  

https://www.intheblack.com/articles/2015/11/17/is-the-australian-government-drunk-on-alcohol-taxes

[Wanderer Returns]

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

I remember looking at Numbeo when we were thinking of going back to the UK - then getting to the UK and realising I shouldn't have relied on it, because it was wildly inaccurate. I guess it's like Wikipedia, only as accurate as the private individuals who contribute the data.   

The cost of alcohol is largely due to tax. This is an old article but a lot of it still applies.  

https://www.intheblack.com/articles/2015/11/17/is-the-australian-government-drunk-on-alcohol-taxes

Interesting article. I'd guessed wine was taxed preferentially because of the industry, but I'd no idea about the other beverages. At least I only drink beer and not spirits or mixers, which are exorbitant.

I'm sure Numbeo does contain some fairly inaccurate data, as well as prices that were accurate but are now out-of-date. However, I think there are enough prices listed to give you and overall idea of how cheap or expensive a place is to live.

[Gemini]

12 hours ago, Gemini said:

Thanks Wanderer Returns, we've got many things to take into consideration and plenty of time to do it with lockdown restrictions :). One of the worries of course is a fluctuating exchange rate if all your income is from the UK. I'm going through all our expenditure so I can do a better comparison. What percentage higher would you say the cost of living is in Australia? It seems you've been back recently & your hometown is not far from where we live. I'm sounding like a stalker here but have read some of your other posts. I remember the first time we came to Oz in 2010 -  the exchange rate was 1.48 AUD to £1!    Nearly fainted when I saw the prices in Coles & Woolworths. Then we found an Aldi so that was ok:)

Thanks for your feedback Marisawright and WandererReturns. I have looked at Numbeo before & will look at it again and the Aldi website. Both your observations confirm what we noticed when visiting Oz previously. We spent about a month each time touring in a campervan so low fuel costs were great. Food in supermarkets was more expensive but manageable and encouraged the sampling of lunches out which seemed reasonably priced & meant no cooking that evening! Obviously we were there in a holiday frame of mind but, coming from Yorkshire, we're always keen on value for money :).

I had hoped to buy a few clothes in Oz but found them expensive, however, I hardly ever buy any clothes at full price here, always wait for the sales & make a lot of my own having studied this at college. Going off my original topic again, I've noticed that "slow fashion" is much more of a thing in Oz. By this I mean small businesses who create, make & sell their own ranges of clothing - oh to be 25 yrs younger & this is what I would be doing. Didn't seem possible in the UK because everyone expects to pay so little for clothes - fast fashion, wear once or twice & throw away. 

This is our first winter at home for 4 years & I dread to think what it will be costing in fuel to heat the house, I'm leaving my husband to keep tabs on that!

I'm off to read up on FIRB. When I looked at this a few years back, I think it was possible to buy a holiday home without being a PR but I can't really remember & it will have changed. Does anyone have knowledge on this? 

Thanks again for input from everyone, all useful!

[wrussell]

On 02/01/2021 at 05:06, LindaH27 said:

OOPS   bad typo in above post - meant “minister” not “monster “  about 6 lines up from the end. Too late to edit post ! 

You were right the first time.

[Marisawright]

On 05/01/2021 at 23:01, Gemini said:

I'm off to read up on FIRB. When I looked at this a few years back, I think it was possible to buy a holiday home without being a PR but I can't really remember & it will have changed. Does anyone have knowledge on this? 

@Gemini, sorry, I missed this part of your post.

Yes you can buy a holiday home.  You'll be classed as a foreign investor and have to apply to the FIRB for permission, then pay the surcharge on the purchase.  If you rent it out while you're not using it, you'll have to pay Australian tax on the income

Edited January 17, 2021 by Marisawright