Superannuation application form - retiring

[loamer]

Bloody hell!!! I am up to page 17 of filling in forms and 3 more to go. Plus marriage certificate, divorce certificate decrees, divorce settlements, proof i have no HECS debt etc etc. The bloody annoying thing is the super surcharge debt that has quietly been accumulating at treasury bond interest rates that must be repaid. Cheers for that Howard/Costello .

Anyway - if this is your year and time, word of warning, have all the extra gumff ready- to get your own $$.

 

[condor22]

I did it 3 years ago, Commonwealth Super as a public servant. I think it was 3 pages, mainly which bank account to pay to.

I gave 2 weeks notice, left on a Friday, my Super was in my bank the following Wednesday morning.

I think that as the Commonwealth already had my ID stuff and it was Comsuper, I didn't need all that "War and Peace" forms to fill in.

But, Centrelink more than made up for that last year, one form was 26 pages, there where several forms and after not progressing for near 3 months, when I asked I found out that they had not processed the forms and had in fact lost them. So I had to fill them in all over again. Which meant digging out all the info again.......

My advice Loamer, Centrelink, Super Funds or any other institution that requires forms. Photo copy them either before submitting or with Centrelink, when you take forms in get them to photocopy them, date receipt the top sheet and give back to you before you leave their office.

Not only evidence that you put them in, but saves you trolling through all your info to fill em out again if needs be.

 

[Jaros]

Hi Condor, Loamer. I am 65 next April and have to do the centrelink thing-is it new start? The forst time i went to centrelink about 4 yrs ago as we were both redundant -out of Telstra- i was stuffed around with info enquiries and mine too was lost. I can still see the uncaring, staid expression on the so called customer service rep. telling me that all i could do was fill out all the forms again. Must be a common practice to keep "their" work level manageable. When you think about it "Big Brother" has nearly all that information at their fingertips already. #$%*&*()&^$%%$@it
I am not looking forward to next year for this ONE reason.
Time for a cold drink-cheers

 

[Redfin]

In the same boat Loamer, turning 60 this year and am going to pull the pin very soon.
Best advice I can give is get good advice from a reputable [word of mouth] financial planner.
There is no such thing a good free advice, unfortunately.

 

[Teemore]

Feel for you Loamer we've been through the 1st part, Seniors Health Card but since being made redundant (I welcomed it, free pay for the 3 or 4 months I would have continued working PLUS 3 weeks for each year of service ...... BONUS I wouldn't have received if I just retired !!!!!!).

Now getting the mind frame right to go back to Centergiveashit and apply for the pension (if I'm lucky), had the paperwork for months but just can't quite get there ..... out for a swing tomorrow so that's another day I can't get there

Loved their comment when applying for the CSHC .... "don't worry we can find out anything about you" .... scary.

Financial Planners ... a necessary evil but they all seem to want to make sure that when we go for our 'Dirt nap" that we do so with more money than we had when we retired ......

Main thing is enjoy retirement, few months in and I seriously still don't have enough time for everything ....

Cheers Tom

 

[kleinman98]

I turned 60 in june and have been retired on govt super for 5 years and its the best thing I ever did but now I cant see how I ever had the time to go to work.

 

[condor22]

I initially applied with Centrelink in August last year, by the beginning of December I was still being jigged around.

Fortunately, I have an old workmate who is currently a Senator in the Govt, I emailed him with my concerns.

The next day I got a phone call from the 2IC of Centrelink SA. I put the last paperwork in at lunchtime one day and got a phone call the next morning informing me that all was approved, next payment day I was on a pension and back paid 4 months.

I did get a follow up from the 2IC who said "There you go, the system does work"

I replied, "That all depends who's kicking it up the arse" "It flows downhill and it don't start much higher than a Senator".

I'm lucky I know someone, but I should not have had to ask favours like that.........

My experience is that having worked all my life, I knew bugger all about Centrelink and what it offers. The thing is, if you don't know, THEY won't bloody tell you. Or when they do tell you, it's a different story each time you speak to a different person. Confusing to say the least.

 

[loamer]

No Centrelink entitlements and will have no entitlements - never had them apart from the old child endowment days - what was it? about $20 per kid. Funny how survived -no family tax A or B, no baby bonus, no first home owners grant etc etc. and bloody interest rates through the roof. The pre 1983 super estimate was a big nice surprise though. Still fuming about the super surcharge though. argggg.

good news? no more city - moving 100% to the GT shortly. I feel like one of those looney, or not so looney preppers getting the block set-up. catch the country line train the Ethiad or the G.

 

[Coyote]

So I guess it's off to the diggings for you