September 5, 2018

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced today that he will quickly scrap the Government’s plan to increase the retirement age pension to 70. “We will ratify it next week. The pension age going to 70, gone,” Morrison said in an interview with Today Show. In the 2015 Budget, the Coalition decided to gradually increase the qualifying

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August 28, 2018

As foreshadowed in our last post, the much awaited ASIC Reverse Mortgage Report was released today. This is an important document for all key stakeholders who comprise the Australian Reverse Mortgage ecosystem: Seniors / reverse mortgage borrowers Reverse Mortgage Lenders Reverse Mortgage Brokers Regulators Solicitors Financial advisers Family members of borrowers Centrelink Government I am

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August 2, 2018

Although it is just a bit more than halfway through 2018, we can already say that this year is a big one for the Reverse Mortgage industry. With tighter government regulation, expansion of Pension Loan Scheme (PLS), and the growing market demand, the Reverse Mortgage niche is still a vibrant and stable industry. Government Reverse

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May 16, 2018

I was recently quoted in an opinion piece written by Bina Brown and published by the Australian Financial Review. Entitled “How to use the budget pension loan scheme for aged care help”, the article explores the idea of unlocking the family home as the “fourth pillar” of the retirement income system. The decision of the

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May 10, 2018

Australian seniors with full age pension entitlements can now access the government-funded Pension Loans Scheme at a max of $17,800 annually as part of the key changes introduced in the 2018 Federal Budget. The Australian Government has been offering the Pension Loans Scheme through the Centrelink as a voluntary reverse equity mortgage for older Australians

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February 15, 2018

Many Australian seniors still believe in the myth that the bank will take over the property if they put it under reverse mortgage. This is a pure misconception as the borrower will remain the full legal owner of the property, and the lender will only take the mortgage. It is crucial to really understand how

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