Monday, December 03, 2007

Pension in Australia

My friend migrated to Australia about 10 years ago.

He told me that, after living as a permanent resident for 10 years, he is entitled to Old Age pension on reaching age 65. The pension is currently about AUD 1,100 a month for a single person. For a qualifying couple, the pension is AUD 1,800.

The pension is reduced, for a pensioner with income or assets above a certain threshold. Many poor people can qualify for the full pension.

NOTE: The generous pension and other benefits are funded by a high rate of taxation that Australians have to pay. It seems that the majority of Australians think that it is all right to pay higher taxes to take care of the poorer people in the community.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Mr.Tan,

    That sound good as a caring Nation.
    Wonder has the Singapore government has studied the Australian Scheme and try to help the poor and the less fortunate group here?

    Heartlanders

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  2. I do not think Singapore Government will do so, they prefer us to be self sufficient and not rely on the SG Government.

    Have they not make clear their stand that they do not want Singapore to be a welfare state.

    They do not want future generation to borne the burden and higher tax rate tend to affect every working person negatively.

    Well they make sense to a certain extent but i feel more help can still be given to the poor and needy

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's why the Singapore Dream is to migrate to Australia.

    I still do not agree with the government why they cannot have pension or welfare for those poorer people above age 65.

    Thank you, Mr Tan, for sharing the information.

    ReplyDelete