William (Bill) Unwin and his wife Christine have come to seek your advice about any Centrelink benefit they may be entitled to now that Bill has decided to retire. Bill is 68 and has finally decided to retire after working as an electrician. Bill arrived in Australia from England with his parents over 50 years ago. Bill has Australian citizenship and has only ever worked in Australia. He has had his pay and superannuation contributions finalised and this is all included in the financial information he has provided you below. Christine is 62, was born in Sydney and has lived here all of her life. Christine has not worked since 2015 and now Bill has retired she has absolutely no intention of returning to the workforce. Bill and Christine provide you with the following financial information: Home at North Rocks worth about $1.35million which they have just finished renovating - the mortgage was paid out 5 years ago so they have no debt on the property (joint names) Credit card with $3,400 currently owing Home contents insured with IAG for $140,000 total replacement value (joint names) Bill's 2018 Subaru insured for $35,000 Christine's 2016 Hyundai insured for $17,000 $35,000 in the NAB savings account earning 0.25%pa interest (joint names) $110,000 in a NAB 6month term deposit earning 1.15% pa interest (Christine's name only) Direct share portfolio: IAG 3,500 / TLS 5,000 / CBA 1,000 / WOW 1,200 (joint names) Bill's accumulation superannuation account $540,000 Christine's accumulation superannuation account $260,000 Bill intends to transfer his accumulation super benefit to an account based pension to provide them with a regular income now he has retired. Christine has never really thought about her super fund but says she will just do the same thing as Bill does with her accumulation super benefit, but is happy to hear your thoughts on this. Bill does not really care about what level of fortnightly pension that he may get from Centrelink, he just wants to make sure he 'gets something each fortnight' so he can get a pension card and the benefits that that will provide him. He thinks they have enough money to live on from his super and other savings and says he can always sell his home if they look like they will run out of money. They have no firm plans in terms of what level of income they require in retirement and have no firm plans requiring any large lump sums of cash but would like to know they can access funds if they need to at any point in time. Based on the information provided: 1. Determine what (if any) Age pension Bill and Christine will be entitled to receive from Centrelink based on the Assets Test and Income Test current thresholds given their current assets and intentions with their super funds. 2. Discuss recommendations you could make to optimise Bill and Christine's pension eligibility and any associated consequences of your recommendations. 3. Discuss where Bill and Christine may access lump sum funds from if required and any associated consequences of accessing these funds. 4. Based on the assumption that Bill and Christine will implement any recommendations you provide them, determine what Age pension Bill and Christine will be entitled to receive from Centrelink if they follow your advice.