Maria is borrowing money to help her daughter with a credit card debt, but is concerned that these funds may affect her pension payment.
Q. Maria
I’m helping my daughter pay off her credit card and I’m afraid this might affect my Age Pension. I applied for a balance transfer on my credit card and this was approved by my credit provider. I was issued with a bank cheque, which I deposited in my account. I’m just worried the bank cheque will affect my Age Pension. I hope Centrelink will not penalise me with regard to this transfer because it’s not my money. I will withdraw it once the cheque is cleared, and use it to pay off my daughter’s credit card. Will this be okay?
A. You have 14 days to advise Centrelink of any changes to your financial arrangements so given that the cheque is likely to be cleared and the money withdrawn by then, you should see no change to your Age Pension.
However, as Centrelink may in the future request details of where the money came from and where it went, it would be prudent to keep a copy of the transaction records on hand.
If you have a Centrelink question, send it to newsletters@staging.yourlifechoices.com.au and we’ll do our best to answer it, or find someone who can.
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