Blog

Centrelink Home Equity Access Scheme

The Australian Government’s Pension Loans Scheme (PLS) has been renamed the Home Equity Access Scheme (HESA), as of 1 January 2022. Find out more below about who is eligible and how...

5 Apr, 2022

3 MIN

False Teeth and Dentures for Australian Pensioners

Deciding to have your teeth replaced with new dentures as a senior citizen can be complicated by the cost of dental procedures and confusion about the range of options available. False...

4 Apr, 2022

3 MIN

Mobility Aids - Independence & Connection In Retirement

Australians are fortunate to enjoy one of the longest life expectancies in the world, with both men and women living 25 years longer compared to a century ago. Mobility aids such...

6 Mar, 2022

4 MIN

Downsizing for Retirement Costs to Consider

A critical factor often overlooked in discussions about downsizing is cost. Moving to a smaller home is not necessarily less expensive. Despite the potential profit from the sale of...

2 Feb, 2022

2 MIN

Downsizing for Retirement Pros and Cons

Downsizing is not as easy as selling your home and pocketing the cash. There’s a range of factors to consider. As with any major decision, there are pros and cons.

1 Feb, 2022

2 MIN

Retirees use their home equity to fund their renovations

23 Nov, 2021

1 MIN

How Boomer Homeowners Can Increase Their Retirement Income

Homes that were bought 40 years ago in Sydney and Melbourne have now compounded in value to become amongst the world's most expensive residential properties. This is good news for...

16 Aug, 2021

1 MIN

Aged Care Royal Commission 2020: Statistics and Government Actions Summary

Established in October 2018, before the Covid-19 pandemic swept the globe, the Australian Royal Commission into Aged Care and Safety delivered its final report in October 2020.

28 Jul, 2021

4 MIN

Retirement Income Review Statistics Compilation

The Retirement Income Review was released by the Australian government in July 2020. The report provides an overview of Australia’s current retirement income system, taking into account...

28 Jul, 2021

3 MIN

Reverse Mortgage Pros and Cons

A reverse mortgage can help you access the savings in your home to enhance your lifestyle and wellbeing in retirement, without needing to sell your home. As with any important decision,...

17 May, 2021

1 MIN

Seniors Finance

There are two main forms of lending considered for older Australians who own their own home. The first is a line of credit, the second, a reverse mortgage. We’ll explore each of these...

11 May, 2021

3 MIN

Home Loans for Seniors

As you get older, banks are increasingly reluctant to finance a mortgage because, as they see it, there are two main challenges. 1) Ability to make repayments and 2) the lender could...

11 May, 2021

2 MIN

Reverse Mortgage Lenders

Reverse mortgage interest rates are usually higher than those offered on new mortgages, primarily because they are generally repaid at the end of the loan rather than via regular repayments...

3 May, 2021

2 MIN

Equity Release: Using Your Home to Fund Your Retirement

A high proportion of retired homeowners plan on leaving the family home to their children. Although you may have some super and other savings, and receive a full or part pension, However,...

18 Dec, 2020

3 MIN

What does coercive control look like?

A proud partner in the fight to criminalise coercive control, specialist retirement funding provider Household Capital offers responsible long-term access to home equity to meet the...

3 Dec, 2020

3 MIN

Plaudits and brickbats for the Retirement Income Review: Who said what

The Treasury’s Retirement Income Review, released on Friday, attracted its fair share of plaudits and brickbats from early commentators, with many stakeholders highlighting the government’s...

20 Nov, 2020

5 MIN

‘I worked too hard all my life to keep saying no to good things in retirement’

Anyone who’s worked hard all their life, pinched pennies to raise kids, then found themselves without enough superannuation to support them in retirement will understand Vivienne...

13 Nov, 2020

4 MIN

Why your home WILL be part of the new retirement income conversation

The Morrison Government would never include the family home in the Age Pension assets test, Jane Hume, the assistant minister for superannuation, has guaranteed, ahead of the long-awaited...

4 Nov, 2020

9 MIN

Reverse Mortgages - Myth Busting

The words ‘reverse mortgage’ incite a range of emotions. For some, they’re viewed with suspicion and hostility; for others they’re regarded as the solution to a problem that...

20 Jul, 2020

3 MIN

The retirement income squeeze

For most of us, 2020 has not been what we expected. Many resolutions made at the commencement of this new decade fallen by the wayside. At a time when you expected to be living your...

22 Jun, 2020

3 MIN

Retirees offered fast-tracked home equity withdrawals of up to $20K

Retirees left struggling with a drop in investment income as a result of Covid-19 but reluctant to draw down on superannuation have a new option on offer from retirement funding provider...

18 Jun, 2020

2 MIN

Considerations before you become the bank of mum and dad

Every parent dreams of seeing their children do well in life; to see them find success in a field they love, start a family with a partner they love, and to one day own a home they...

4 Jun, 2020

2 MIN

Climbing the property ladder

The fact that the Bank of Mum and Dad is Australia’s fifth largest money lender, when it comes to home loans, never fails to surprise. It’s amazing, isn’t it, to think that the...

4 Jun, 2020

2 MIN

Funding your grandkids’ education

There are few joys in life quite like becoming a grandparent. It’s all the joys of parenthood with none of the nappies. You and your partner now both get to be the ‘fun one’,...

1 Jun, 2020

2 MIN

An alternative to drawing on your super in a downturn

If you’re worried about your super in these turbulent times, it might be time to take another look at the third pillar of retirement funding – home equity. It’s an unprecedented...

28 Mar, 2020

3 MIN

How to Access Your Home Equity

Just days after it announced a review into Australia’s retirement income system, the federal government said one thing wouldn’t be changing in any major way – the Age Pension.

6 Dec, 2019

5 MIN

Will medical expenses derail your retirement?

Much has been written about Australian retirees being too conservative with their spending, particularly in the early years of retirement.

6 Dec, 2019

1 MIN

Household Loans offer lower interest, more flexibility on home equity release

Many older Australians have a big problem. They should be looking forward to a retirement of 25 years or more. The problem? Being able to pay for it. If you’re like most of today’s...

28 Nov, 2019

4 MIN

Why retirees are too conservative with their spending

There’s been a body of research and a number of articles to suggest retirees are too conservative with their spending, particularly in the early years of retirement.

7 Oct, 2019

1 MIN

Forced into retirement? Understanding your rights as an older worker

Losing your job is tough to deal with at any age, whether you are young and just starting out on your chosen career path, or if you may be nearing retirement and considering what your...

25 Sep, 2019

4 MIN

How to navigate the different stages of retirement?

Whether you’ve already bid farewell to working life or are just beginning to consider your options for the future, retirement is most likely something that crosses your mind quite...

25 Sep, 2019

4 MIN

Building quality of life: The 5 secrets to a happy retirement

Entering retirement is, for the most part, an exciting journey full of new possibilities and adventures but at the same time the transition from working life can be a shock to the system...

24 Sep, 2019

6 MIN

Home care wait-list finally falls but 120,000 still waiting for care

The waiting list for a home care package has fallen for the first time, according to new government data, but experts say the wait is still too long, with 43 Australians dying every...

19 Sep, 2019

3 MIN

‘Ageing passport’ could keep Aussies out of residential aged care

An ‘ageing passport’ could be the way to help older Australians stave off a move into a nursing home, according to a new report that looked at radical ideas to fix the troubled...

17 Sep, 2019

3 MIN

Mortgage stress infiltrates retirement

The recent report by Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) has given rise to all manner of lurid headlines: “Mortgage debt causing older Australians distress and...

4 Sep, 2019

1 MIN

How to live well at home as you age

Australians prefer to stay in their own home as they age. Can you afford the renovations required?

9 Aug, 2019

1 MIN

Three ways to release home equity

That we are living longer is a great reflection of Australia’s improving living standards, yet there is also a cost. Living longer, when combined with insufficient retirement savings,...

1 Jul, 2019

1 MIN

The hidden burden of low interest rates

When interest rates fall, it’s generally reported as a good thing. All those homeowners getting a break on their mortgage, the money freed up by falling rates flowing into the economy...

19 Jun, 2019

1 MIN

Age in your own home during retirement

Nursing homes, residential aged care…. they’re generally not the first thing on the retirement bucket list. If you’ve been thinking that you don’t want to move into an aged...

29 May, 2019

3 MIN

Australia’s retirement challenge

Australians are experiencing a major societal transformation. We are living longer than ever, and many people look forward to a long, active retirement.

22 May, 2019

2 MIN

The retirement savings shortfall

While the United States has more millionaires than any other country in the world, Australia has the greatest median wealth per head, significantly ahead of the millionaire-rich US.

16 May, 2019

2 MIN

My home is my castle

Home ownership is a strong part of Australia’s cultural identity, our way of life. That does not change when you retire…in fact, most Australian retirees prefer to continue living...

8 May, 2019

2 MIN

Australians are getting older and living longer

Australia’s population is ageing and longevity is increasing. In other words, we’re getting older and living longer. In fact, the life expectancy of Australians in retirement has...

30 Apr, 2019

1 MIN

More Australians are retiring with a mortgage

There are a number of reasons Australians might be retiring with a mortgage debt; medical costs from unexpected illness or injury, divorce, kids drawing on the ‘bank of mum and dad’...

2 Apr, 2019

1 MIN

Rethinking home equity and retirement funding

Australians are experiencing a major societal transformation as the baby boomers, around 5.5 million people born between 1946 and 1964, are reaching retirement.

20 Mar, 2019

4 MIN

$900b in home equity could save your retirement

Your home equity could save your retirement – or your children’s future. There is an estimated $900 billion in untapped home equity in Australia, which can now be tapped to help...

10 Mar, 2019

1 MIN