Age Pension Work Bonus - is it worth my bother?

Age Pension Work Bonus can be a benefit for some pensioners, but may not help others. So what's the difference and why should you bother?
What is the Work Bonus?
In a nutshell, this is an incentive for pensioners to stay in the workforce and a portion of earned income from your gainful employment is excluded from the usual Income Test when calculating the Age Pension payment. So your very first step should be to understand how the Age Pension Income Test works.
Under the Work Bonus rules, you can earn extra $300 per fortnight over and above the fortnightly limit of $180 per person, and still enjoy your Age Pension eligibility calculated for you under Income and Assets Tests.
How does Work Bonus work?
The easiest way to understand it is imagining that each year you have in your Work Bonus bank a balance of $7,800 per person. Each fortnight you can use up to $300 of your balance without effecting the level of Age Pension. And I repeat, this is over and above the allowable $180pf per person earnings.
Who is eligible for the Work Bonus?
To be eligible for the Work Bonus you actually have to be of Age Pension age and in receipt of payments such as Age Pension, Carer Payment or Disability Support Pension. If you receive your Service Pension or Income Support supplement from the DVA (Department of Veterans Affairs), you are also eligible for the Work Bonus.
Application for Work Bonus.
Pensioners do not need to apply for the Work Bonus. If you are a pensioner with income from work, as described before and you comply with all the rules, you must advice Centrelink of your income earned. The Work Bonus will be applied to your income that has been reported, which you can do via telephone, in person at the Centrelink office of via MyGov portal, that unfortunately can be temperamental.
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[@AboutRetirementTV]

Do you find Work Test beneficial? Can you use it to your advantage?

[@saraw8104]

My God, had I watched this video before I would not have been idling at home.
Many thanks.

[@robertboyle7790]

Thanks for the video.

[@alkocataskin3142]

great information, thank you

[@whathappen5279]

GREAT free information, GREAT examples with useful figures. Just subscribed 👍

[@AboutRetirementTV]

fab, thank you 😀

[@angler181]

Wonderfully informative videos. Thanks very much for sharing this information. My wife is unemployed and not looking, and is 8 years younger than me. As I approach retirement age, It would be great if you could add this kind of scenario when giving examples of eligibility. Thanks heaps

[@davidjohnston1374]

That is outstanding...thankyou for this video

[@AboutRetirementTV]

Most welcome, glad it is helpful 😀

[@Simba012]

Thank you Katherine. Your videos are very knowledgeable and helpful. You haven’t mentioned income tax. I assume there may be income tax on the work bonus?

[@vindeljay]

Thanks, this is useful. I am assuming the work bonus of $7800 PA and the $180 per fortnight are gross amounts, so tax will still come out as its earned. I have been trying to work out what I can live on, ie. what cash I will end up with. How much would one pay in tax ea year if they were eligible for this, received the full pension and earned only the $480 per fortnight, as a single person. This being the only income, no investments. Thanks.

[@SandraBain-m6x]

Thank you for making work bonus clearer. My husband is 70 and has applied for pension, but they want him to give up his ABN. How can he continue to be self employed and earn his work bonus allowance without his ABN ?

[@AboutRetirementTV]

I do not believe Centrelink can force you to cancel your ABN. As long as you provide your income earnings on fortnightly basis, this is all that is required of you. I have a number of clients who receive a part Age Pension and continue earning extra income with ABN in place.

[@robertboyle7790]

Thank you for these great videos. If a homeowner couple who are under the asset test of 406k and one is still working and the other about to reach age pension age and not working is there any advantage of transferring some super to the one still working, before starting a super retirement acc?

[@AboutRetirementTV]

If you are below the Assets Test, then not really a big benefit

[@beachesney7920]

Thankyou - what happens if like me you do Airbnb and every week is different?

[@AboutRetirementTV]

You have to report all your earnings on fortnightly basis via MyGov. Centrelink will organise your MyGov page for you to do so, once you advice of such income being earned.

[@christiandhelon8437]

Hi Katherine
B

[@neelambehl2179]

Well it sounds good that someone can work and keep working forever to earn over 100k. But what if they couldn't work. And have no home they will have to live on few dollars from Centrelink and rest from investment property.
. In the last example I learnt that most money was earnt by the couple. And Centrelink input kept getting less and less as people create assets or keep working longer.
Imagine they stopped working and have to pay rent .now they can either pay rent or live day today life.
Investing in income producing property seems like a bad idea.
It would be better to have a house of your own. Which grows in value as well.
But the point is you r always hand to mouth never well off as a oldy.

[@christiandhelon8437]

Hi Katherine
Because Romania are not on the list of social services ovresee the penson could be payed once montly in US dollars
The payment can be made opening an account for a US bank located hire ,for exemple CityBank
That's the form Aus 178-19041 which mast be completed and sent to Centerlikk