HOW TO QUALIFY FOR THE AGE PENSION

The age pension is a valuable hedge against inflation, explains the Actuaries Institute’s Andrew Boal. It is a guaranteed income that goes up in line with wage inflation, known as average weekly earnings.

With the age pension, you don’t have to worry about sharemarket volatility or asset selection to suit your risk profile.

Rise Wealth’s Peter Humble says the couples pension rate of $38,709pa (including the pension and energy supplements) is attractive for its “risk-free rate of return”. He says a self-funded retiree would need millions of dollars to invest in risk-free assets, such as cash and term deposits, to get $37,000.

If you