Articles

Realise Your Dream

The Realise Your Dream blogs are written by Peter Kelly and Mark Teale.

Peter provides technical advice to financial advisers and accountants on superannuation, retirement planning and estate planning. He also has extensive knowledge in all aspects of self-managed superannuation funds and is a regular presenter at conferences, seminars and workshops. He is Manager; Technical Advice with Centrepoint Alliance Limited.

Mark has a great deal of experience, having worked for the Department of Social Security and Centrelink as a Financial Information Service Officer and Regional Manager for close to 25 years and for the last 15 years, he has worked for Centrepoint Alliance as Research, Paraplanning and Product Manager. He now works alongside PK as a Manager; Technical Advice part of the Centrepoint Technical team.

Naturally, his specialties lay in the areas of Aged Care, Centrelink and Veteran's Affairs and pushing people to realise that you are never too old to set yourself a challenge yourself.

28 March, 2019

Is Transition to Retirement Still Viable?

As many readers will be aware, legally getting access to superannuation before retirement can be a rather difficult. But, back in 2005 things were made just a little easier. Superannuation law was amended to allow people to access their super from preservation age – currently 55, but progressively increasing to...

21 March, 2019

Change is not a dirty word!

We are often told change is constant, and I think that we all recognize that this is a fact of life. This constant change is, I am sure, the reason why we are sometimes tired, a little jittery and above all, stressed. So, what is change and why is it...

14 March, 2019

Time for a quick check-up

Superannuation is not something we usually give a great deal of thought to, particularly if retirement is 10 years or more away. But perhaps it is worth investing a few moments to consider some recent changes, particularly if you have one or more super accounts that have become inactive. When...

07 March, 2019

Pensioners living in million-dollar homes!

As many readers will be aware, the family home is exempt from means testing for Social Security benefits, including the age pension. But this hasn’t always been the case. When the Commonwealth first introduced the age pension back in 1909, the family home was included as an asset. However, in...

04 March, 2019

Carers – a blessing

As we age our bodies and minds start to become a little feebler. No doubt, we will find that we are relying on care provided by relatives, our partners or by the government in the guise of a home care package, which we have discussed previously. The role of the...

04 March, 2019

Health Insurance – a dark science?

Each year on 1 April, the premiums for private health insurance increase. It is just part of the annual cycle; however, I don’t see the joke – the date being April Fool’s Day! This year there is going to be a lot more than premium increases happening in the private...