(David Myers)
I hope you and your family are well as we have entered into Stage 3 lockdown and while the world seems a little crazy and disjointed at the moment, the positive news is that it looks like we are starting to ‘flatten the curve’ and hopefully we will hit the peak soon and then start the downward number of cases. The sooner this happens the sooner we get back to our normal, (extra)ordinary lives.
STIMULUS ANNOUNCEMENTS
I wanted to touch on was your government entitlements. It is difficult to get to you quickly enough with all the information as there have been 3 massive stimulus packages to date within a month. So instead of me summarising something only for it to change a week later, I have found the sources of information which you can look at for yourself. That way you will always have the most current information.
Treasury has released the following website https://treasury.gov.au/coronavirus and in there you can find the following information:
Job Keeper Payment (click here)
The Government has announced a $130 billion JobKeeper payment to help keep more Australians in jobs and support businesses affected by the significant economic impact caused by the Coronavirus. Around 6 million workers will receive a fortnightly payment of $1,500 (before tax) through their employer. The payment ensures eligible employers remain connected to their workforce and will help businesses restart quickly when the crisis is over.
Supporting Individuals and Households (click here)
The following information can be found here:
- JobKeeper payment for households
- Income support for individuals
- Payments to support households
- Temporary early release of superannuation
- Temporarily reducing superannuation minimum drawdown rates
- Reducing social security deeming rates
Support for Business (click here)
The following information can be found here:
- JobKeeper payment for businesses
- Boosting cash flow for employers
- Temporary relief for financially distressed businesses
- Increasing the instant asset write-off
- Backing business investment
- Supporting apprentices and trainees
The goal of the stimulus which is to date in excess of $300 Billion is to help us all get through this period which could last up to six months. For more reading, there is some good information produced by Yahoo Finance on the 3 Stimulus Packages that is quite a user-friendly site to read:
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
There have been 1,016,399 confirmed cases so far and 53,238 deaths from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak as of April 03, 2020. America now has the most confirmed cases with nearly 250,000 (6,095 deaths) with Italy at 115,739 cases (13,915 deaths). Australia has 5,318 cases (28 deaths).
A couple points to finish off:
We have had phone calls around eligibility for income protection and I wanted to clarify that income protection is not available for being unemployed, it is if you are unable to work due to injury or illness. The majority of insurers will give you some premium relief (and other types of cover also). We will update you next week with information on this or please call our office.
If you feel you will qualify for age pension please give us a call. We are working our way through the list and doing calculations to see who will qualify as we know every dollar helps. If you are already on an aged pension you can update your assets via the directions in this link (we have already done this for clients that are linked to our liaison/nominee service)
Banks are offering the ability to freeze loan repayments for the next 6 months which means your loan then goes an additional 6 months at the end of the loan term, and for the next 6 months interest will capitalise.
Talk to us if you want more information on any of this please.
Regards,
David Myers
