The Australian Government is changing the retirement age for eligibility to receive the aged pension. If you look at the numbers of Australian Seniors which has now passed 3 million you can see why the Government has brought this in to stall the need to be paying the pension to a large number of Australian seniors by changing the age of pension.

The main people affected are women who now have a retirement age or an age of pension of 60 years old while men’s age of pension is set at 65 years old. With the Government changes, women’s age of pension will rise to meet the men’s age of 65 years old before both men’s and women’s age of pension rise again to 67 years old.

So if you were under the impression like many senior Australians that your age of pension will come about when you turn 60 for women then you need to have another think. If your age of pension has increased then obviously you are going to have less retirement years left to you. On the good side this does give more years for your superannuation fund to increase so that when you do finally retire you will be able to do so more comfortably.

It also means that depending on your health you may find your self leaving work and then a short time later moving into a retirement home or needing to rely on home help. We now need to look after our health more than ever so that when we do finally reach our age of pension we can still enjoy those years by leading as active a life as possible.

Another very large impact is on those seniors who are Grandparents. Working these extra years will put a strain on a number of families as far as child care goes as you won’t be home to help look after the grand children.

Residence Requirements For The Age Of Pension

While most seniors Australians will automatically be eligible at the age of pension, some may not qualify due to the residence requirements which require that you must be an Australian citizen or be the holder of a permanent resident visa. There are also some other qualifying requirements for New Zealand citizens.

Also for most, to be paid the aged pension you will need to meet the 10 year qualifying Australian residence requirements. As always if you still have questions about your eligibility for the aged pension we recommend contacting the Department Of Human Services to check your eligibility status.

Retirement should be a reward for all the years of working. A time to relax or to travel to those places that you have always wanted to visit so take care of your health so that you can make the most of this time.

Our country is an aging nation with more senior Australians than ever before. As a result more service providers will be required to assist seniors with aged care at home and more residential nursing homes will be required.