MONEY MAGAZINE is a mums-and-dads investment magazine I used to read occasionally. I stopped buying it many years ago after they'd obscenely declared that you were only rich if you could live off the interest that you earned on the interest that you earned on your original investment.
I still read their free online newsletter which seems to have a slightly different focus because its latest edition poses this reader's question:
"My wife (68) and I (63) own a property in Brisbane valued at around $725,000. We have a neutrally geared investment property on the Sunshine Coast valued at around $650,000 with $215,000 left to pay on the mortgage. Our combined superannuation is $360,000. We both work full time – my wife’s income is $130,000 and mine is $72,000. We both salary sacrifice the maximum amount. We’re looking at cutting back our hours and selling our rental property, then renovating our principal place of residence. Having read the Money article on why you only need $275,000 in super to retire, we would like to qualify for the age pension."
That's quite a long-winded question, so the article condenses it into "We’re worth $1.5 million – how can we claim the pension?".
Just as well I'm not their editor because I would have condensed it to "We're worth $1.5 million but still want to bludge on government welfare" because that's what it is and that's what's wrong with this country.
