The Australian --- Page: 5 : 14 March 2007 Original article by Tony Negline
ABIX Summary
It is vital for retirees receiving a pension or annuity to consider how Australia's superannuation reforms may affect their retirement income. Under the changes, retirees will be able to leave assets in the non-pension part of their super fund for as long as they want and make lump-sum withdrawals as required. The only difference for retirees who make no changes to their arrangements will be that they will potentially pay less income tax. Another option is for retirees to stop their allocated pension and return their money to the part of their fund paying 15% tax, and make occasional tax-free lump sum withdrawals from their fund. Retirees can also move to a new pension that will become available on 1 July 2007, which will have a lower minimum than allocated pensions but may be more favourable in terms of the age pension asset test.
