Post by Banker on Mar 13, 2012 8:15:13 GMT 7
75,000 Aussies living abroad sent payments last year
Overseas pensioners risen seven-fold in past 30 years
Australia has reciprocal arrangements with 22 countries
AUSTRALIANS living overseas are receiving pensions and other Federal Government payments totalling more than $600 million a year.
About 75,000 Australians living abroad were sent Federal Government payments last year, including about 65,000 pensioners. Most are migrants now living in their countries of origin.
Migrants from anywhere in the world who have lived in Australia for at least 10 years can receive a full pension.
The number of people collecting Australian pensions while living overseas has risen seven-fold in the past 30 years.
The benefits are being sent to pensioners living in more than 70 different countries.
Italy, Greece and New Zealand are by far the most popular offshore havens for pensioners, reflecting those countries' large immigrant populations.
Australia has reciprocal arrangements with 22 countries to ensure our citizens get social security protection when they move to those countries.
Payments in some cases are shared according to the country in which a pensioner has spent most of their working years.
We have been a net beneficiary of these arrangements, with more cash from overseas countries paid to pensioners living here than we pay to pensioners living in foreign countries.
But the gap is closing. It was more than $4 coming in for every $1 going offshore a decade ago but is less than half that now.
Experts predict that "Anglo Australians" will increasingly choose to spend at least their early retirement years living in places like Bali or other parts of South-East Asia where their pension has greater buying power.
Demographer Bernard Salt said the high Australian dollar would make offshore retirement even more attractive.
"Americans do this to the Bahamas and places like Costa Rica and the Brits do it to places like Spain," he said. "I would expect with the high dollar for that to increase in the future and ... we'll see a lot more baby boomers choose this option."
Whatever the motives, Mr Salt said taxpayers should embrace the growing exodus as it eased the burden on our services, particularly hospitals and other parts of the health sector.
In 2000, $1.4 billion in pension payments flowed into Australia, more than four times the $310 million sent offshore. By 2010 this had fallen to $1.2 billion.
Read more: www.news.com.au/money/offshore-retirement-makes-dollar-go-a-long-way/story-e6frfmci-1226297612444#ixzz1oxHXIrJE
Overseas pensioners risen seven-fold in past 30 years
Australia has reciprocal arrangements with 22 countries
AUSTRALIANS living overseas are receiving pensions and other Federal Government payments totalling more than $600 million a year.
About 75,000 Australians living abroad were sent Federal Government payments last year, including about 65,000 pensioners. Most are migrants now living in their countries of origin.
Migrants from anywhere in the world who have lived in Australia for at least 10 years can receive a full pension.
The number of people collecting Australian pensions while living overseas has risen seven-fold in the past 30 years.
The benefits are being sent to pensioners living in more than 70 different countries.
Italy, Greece and New Zealand are by far the most popular offshore havens for pensioners, reflecting those countries' large immigrant populations.
Australia has reciprocal arrangements with 22 countries to ensure our citizens get social security protection when they move to those countries.
Payments in some cases are shared according to the country in which a pensioner has spent most of their working years.
We have been a net beneficiary of these arrangements, with more cash from overseas countries paid to pensioners living here than we pay to pensioners living in foreign countries.
But the gap is closing. It was more than $4 coming in for every $1 going offshore a decade ago but is less than half that now.
Experts predict that "Anglo Australians" will increasingly choose to spend at least their early retirement years living in places like Bali or other parts of South-East Asia where their pension has greater buying power.
Demographer Bernard Salt said the high Australian dollar would make offshore retirement even more attractive.
"Americans do this to the Bahamas and places like Costa Rica and the Brits do it to places like Spain," he said. "I would expect with the high dollar for that to increase in the future and ... we'll see a lot more baby boomers choose this option."
Whatever the motives, Mr Salt said taxpayers should embrace the growing exodus as it eased the burden on our services, particularly hospitals and other parts of the health sector.
In 2000, $1.4 billion in pension payments flowed into Australia, more than four times the $310 million sent offshore. By 2010 this had fallen to $1.2 billion.
Read more: www.news.com.au/money/offshore-retirement-makes-dollar-go-a-long-way/story-e6frfmci-1226297612444#ixzz1oxHXIrJE
