Age Pension is one of the main sources of income for majority of retired Australians,
so no wonder rules around eligibility and level of payments are so very complicated and keep changing from year to year.
If you are preparing for retirement and your plan is to be eligible for Age Pension, you are in the right place,
as this channel is full of videos dedicated to the topic of Age Pension.
You can discover what means testing is, legal ways to improve your Age Pension benefit as well as explanation of many financial strategies
that can be implemented to improve your overall retirement income, value of your assets and longevity your money.
Just recently I prepared a video "How to prepare an application for Age Pension"
This video is based on many situations I experienced personally while dealing with Centrelink office on behalf of my own clients,
therefore I believe it can be very helpful when you are trying to deal with the office directly yourself.
That video however is designed for people applying for the Australian Pension while here in Australia.
But I know that there are many Australians retiring overseas that are following my channel aswell,
So, today's video is for you if you plan to retire overseas or if you are overseas already and wish to apply for Age Pension payments from another country.
My name is Katherine Isbrandt form About Retirement. I am Certified Financial Planner, and you are watching About Retirement TV,
the place where you can learn all about the best ways to be financially prepared for your retirement,
whether you are a self-funded retiree or trying to reach and maximise Age Pension benefit.
There are hundreds of videos on this channel, and hundreds of articles on my website AboutRetirement.com.au so there is lots to choose from and to learn.
If you wish to retire overseas you need to first find out if the country you wish to move to has Social Security Agreement with Australia or not,
as the process, rules, and eligibility are different.
Today I will go over the steps to take when retiring overseas in countries that have The Social Security Agreement with Australia.
I already prepared couple of videos on this topic of retirement overseas, so please watch them to have a fuller picture of the situation and your choices.
Retirement and Living Overseas and Retirement overseas and Age Pension.
I will link those two videos for you at the end of this one, so you can easily continue watching.
To recap quickly, Australia has an agreement with the following countries:
There are only 3 countries in Asia: India, Japan, and Korea.
There are over 20 countries from Europe - Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland,
Italy, Latvia, Malta, The Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak republic, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland.
Please be advised that the agreement with the United Kingdom (UK) ended on 1st March 2001.
There are 3 countries in America: Canada, Chile and United States of America
and obviously New Zealand.
Under the agreement with those countries, you can claim the benefit regardless if you are in Australia or if you are in the other country at the time of your application.
If you are making a claim while in Australia, just follow the steps and suggestions from my previous video: "How to prepare an application for Age Pension".
If however you are making the claim while you are in the other country, but I repeat again, only in the country that has the Social Security Agreement with Australia
I would recommend the following steps to make the process easier and successful at the same time.
And your success lies in your proper planning.
1. Before you even leave Australia, set up your MyGov account so you can make the claim online while overseas
2. If you have never visited Centrelink before, please make sure you do this prior to you leaving Australia, so you can provide a prove of your identity.
If you have a partner, you both should do this together.
3. then while you are overseas, and you took all the previously listed steps, it will be so much easier to make your claim online through MyGov
If however you have not taken the above listed steps and you are already overseas, the process is a little bit more difficult and you have the following choices:
You can complete the correct form designed for the country you moved to. Centrelink has created specific forms for each of the countries previously listed,
so please make sure you pick up a correct form from Centrelink website.
Or you can call the Social Security Authorities in the country you reside now.
Alternatively you can apply via international services line 131 673
Make sure you provide the supporting documents and follow all the other steps the way I described in my original video "How to prepare an application of Age Pension".
Providing details about your overseas assets is also essential.
You have to disclose all your cash accounts, any other financial holdings and support it with statement or other documents.
Please do not undervalue the properties you might be holding in the other country.
Remember there is an agreement between those two countries in place and Centrelink can check the validity of your information quite easily.
I hope you found this video helpful, if so, please give it a LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to my channel not to miss any of my future videos.
For more information about retirement planning or Age Pension planning,
visit my website: AboutRetirement.com.au, and do not forget to sign up to my newsletter.
And now I would like you to continue watching those previously mentioned videos: Retirement and Living Overseas and Retirement overseas and Age Pension.
If your dream to live overseas during your retirement, watching those videos might help you with your decision,
but do not forget to receive the full financial advice, before you jump on the plane and it is too late to organise your money properly and to your best advantage.
Bye for now.