About to retire. What should I do re Credit Cards and other messy bits?

[Pushka]

Well I am about to pull down the shingle and retire. Which made me wonder what I should do financially wise - eg with Credit Cards etc before I no longer get a salary. I will continue to get our company dividends (which more than offsets no salary currently) but is there something else I should apply for as an example before I pull the plug?
Currently I have personal Westpac Black, Amex Qantas, ANZ Qantas credit card, and a Citibank debit card for overseas cash. Am I done?

 

[Saltywings]

Presumably grocery spend at major supermarkets and servos would still be a part of your spending? I can see a place for the Amex Plat Edge & Explorer combo in your portfolio - but I would say that for most people at most stages of life.

This of course assumes points collecting is still a big part of your life game post-retirement, which is a fair assumption(?), in which case the EdgeExp combo beats anything else in your list. Would personally also cancel the QF Ultimate if I were you, unless Epiqure Premium and the free flight/lounge passes are of value to you relative to its AF.

 

[VPS]

Depends if they way your income is set up is enough to satisfy the criteria to apply for credit cards. I just applied for NAB, St George and ANZ for a total of about 270000 points which I will do the spend and then close them all because I doubt I will be able to get more cards in the future. My keep cards are the Qantas Amex ($450 but get the credit) and Citibank Visa fee free for life and Citibank debit. I also currently have the Hilton card which gave me Gold for a year and the Westpac Amex which I tried to cancel but they offered me 25000 points not to so I will hold onto that for a while. I don't pay fees on Westpac because of family benefits.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Well as it stands for those travelling overseas and/or spending in international currencies the ANZ Traveller is good card to have ( and especially if you can use the included virgin flight to offset the yearly fee ) due the lack of fees charged on international currencies that many/most other cards will charge more for.

I maximise KF points. I am guessing you go for Qantas given the cards you mentioned.

If I was retiring tomorrow my credit card portfolio of "keepers" would be:

• Amex Edge
• Amex Explorer.
• ANZ Traveller
• St George Amplify (though I might cull this due to fees perhaps not exceeding extra points earnt with respect to Traveller)

The first 3 I all would make money/flights or other benefits (ie cashback etc )on well in excess of the yearly fees.
The first two in particular while maximising point earn.
ANZ for saving $$$ on international spend


I would churn any cards for sign on bonii that will accept me, but appreciate that this will be harder to do.

Debit Cards:
Citiplus and my Ing = both free and both excellent for ATM cash overseas.

 

[burmans]

I'm unsure of the context of your question, are you asking
a) what should I apply for before I retire to maximise signup bonuses while I still have salary given a number of suppliers dont seem to understand anything except PAYE and signups will get harder?
b) what are my best "keepers" post retirement?

On a) would go with all the high bonus cards currently around that you dont have already

• NAB Signature
• St George (or another of that stable) Altitude

and on b) for keepers

• Amex Edge plus Explorer
• St George Amplify (or BOM, BankSA)
• 28 Degrees
• Citibank Debit

 

[Pushka]

I'm unsure of the context of your question, are you asking
a) what should I apply for before I retire to maximise signup bonuses while I still have salary given a number of suppliers dont seem to understand anything except PAYE and signups will get harder?
b) what are my best "keepers" post retirement?

On a) would go with all the high bonus cards currently around that you dont have already

• NAB Signature
• St George (or another of that stable) Altitude

and on b) for keepers

• Amex Edge plus Explorer
• St George Amplify (or BOM, BankSA)
• 28 Degrees
• Citibank Debit

Good question. I was thinking more of a) but b) is very helpful too.

 

[blueythecat]

I would definitely have to recommend the Amex Edge for sure. The extra earn at the supermarket and at the pump make it hard to beat. I’d also reiterate what some others have said about pairing it with an Explorer- although if I just had the option of one I’d choose the Edge.

For overseas travel I’d recommend the Coles Platinum card - no OS currency fees and an equivalent earn of 1 Velocity point per $ (assuming a 15% transfer bonus, which come around very regularly)

There are heaps of good cards to choose from so good luck!

 

[theblank]

If you need to apply for a credit card apply for it,

After you have retired, if you are still earning $80k a year from your investments you wont have any troubles getting approved for new credit cards if you are chasing points. If not, then somewhere there is a fuzzy grey line where you will have no chance of picking up new cards. Where that line is, depends on a whole range of factors that I guess you wont share here

 

[Renato1]

Assuming that you will be continuing your travelling ways, the best card for Complimentary Travel Insurance is the CBA Gold (for three months travel) or CBA Diamond (for up to six months). It is activated on line, nothing has to be spent on the card to activate it, and on-line one pays the extra for pre-existing conditions, and an email is sent to one's inbox with the policy - which one prints out and carries overseas.

I feel a lot more comfortable going overseas with a policy containing policy number, policy details and contact phone numbers, rather than with a PDS and a receipt for the $500 or $1000 or for the cost of flights required to activate the complimentary insurance of other cards.

And as one gets older, the pre-existing conditions can mount. My Amex card is useless to me for Complimenatry Travel Insurance with Chubb, as it won't accept me, whereas the CBA card with Allianz just tells me to pay extra premium.

This year that card has saved us nearly $1200 compared to buying the same insurance product directly from Allianz.

Of course, we rarely actually use that card when overseas because of the 3% fee, except in an emergency.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Pushka]

Assuming that you will be continuing your travelling ways, the best card for Complimentary Travel Insurance is the CBA Gold (for three months travel) or CBA Diamond (for up to six months). It is activated on line, nothing has to be spent on the card to activate it, and on-line one pays the extra for pre-existing conditions, and an email is sent to one's inbox with the policy - which one prints out and carries overseas.

I feel a lot more comfortable going overseas with a policy containing policy number, policy details and contact phone numbers, rather than with a PDS and a receipt for the $500 or $1000 or for the cost of flights required to activate the complimentary insurance of other cards.

And as one gets older, the pre-existing conditions can mount. My Amex card is useless to me for Complimenatry Travel Insurance with Chubb, as it won't accept me, whereas the CBA card with Allianz just tells me to pay extra premium.

This year that card has saved us nearly $1200 compared to buying the same insurance product directly from Allianz.

Of course, we rarely actually use that card when overseas because of the 3% fee, except in an emergency.
Regards,
Renato

Travel Insurance is a bit tricky for me as I need pre existing medical cover. And yes, I sure do intend to keep travelling.

 

[Renato1]

Travel Insurance is a bit tricky for me as I need pre existing medical cover. And yes, I sure do intend to keep travelling.

Yes, that's precisely why I like the CBA card - as you add in the pre-existing conditions on the form and update, you see the additional costs involved.
Last time I filled the form out, I put in that my wife and I had both had back operations, which added a whopping nearly extra $800 to it, which I unhappily paid.

Then I thought about it, rang Allianz up and said to the lady that I was concerned about the payment I'd made a few days ago - why am I paying so much money for something our surgeon now says the problem is fixed - especially as we each have rods and screws in there, making us more re-inforced than normal people?

The lady said that it was simple. She would cancel the policy for me and refund the money, and I could then go and redo the form leaving out the back operations, but that if anything should happen to our backs, we wouldn't be covered. Which is what I did.

I'm always annoyed by those forms whch ask whether a Doctor has ever recommended I take Cholesterol pills. The answer is Yes. But there is no space to write that multiple Doctors subsequently told me not to take the pills, and that my cholesterol levels are now fine. So the answer remains a Yes, but it's one of the strikes against you which adds to the cost of premiums for pre-existing conditions.

At the end of the day, you don't need the CBA card, but might find it wise that one of the cards you have uses Allianz for its travel insurance.
Cheers,
Renato

 

[Pushka]

Yes, that's precisely why I like the CBA card - as you add in the pre-existing conditions on the form and update, you see the additional costs involved.
Last time I filled the form out, I put in that my wife and I had both had back operations, which added a whopping nearly extra $800 to it, which I unhappily paid.

Then I thought about it, rang Allianz up and said to the lady that I was concerned about the payment I'd made a few days ago - why am I paying so much money for something our surgeon now says the problem is fixed - especially as we each have rods and screws in there, making us more re-inforced than normal people?

The lady said that it was simple. She would cancel the policy for me and refund the money, and I could then go and redo the form leaving out the back operations, but that if anything should happen to our backs, we wouldn't be covered. Which is what I did.

I'm always annoyed by those forms whch ask whether a Doctor has ever recommended I take Cholesterol pills. The answer is Yes. But there is no space to write that multiple Doctors subsequently told me not to take the pills, and that my cholesterol levels are now fine. So the answer remains a Yes, but it's one of the strikes against you which adds to the cost of premiums for pre-existing conditions.

At the end of the day, you don't need the CBA card, but might find it wise that one of the cards you have uses Allianz for its travel insurance.
Cheers,
Renato

I can understand not disclosing medical events but I can’t do that. You also need to weigh up the risks in not disclosing. I had neurosurgery over 30 years ago and still have the odd incident.

 

[Renato1]

I can understand not disclosing medical events but I can’t do that. You also need to weigh up the risks in not disclosing. I had neurosurgery over 30 years ago and still have the odd incident.

Yes, it's pretty pointless not disclosing such events - which is why I initially disclosed and paid - I thought I had to disclose everything.

But when they tell you that you are allowed to leave something out in particular instances, and the risk of something occuring appears ridiculously low, then it is worth considering.

Which reminds me, when I was rescheduling my travel insurance for my Bali trip last year after my back started playing up, the lady on the phone at Allianz said "No Probem - if anything goes wrong in Bali with your back - you aren't covered". Which was fine by me, as I was still covered for anything else.

Cheers,
Renato

 

[pauly7]

I'm unsure of the context of your question, are you asking
a) what should I apply for before I retire to maximise signup bonuses while I still have salary given a number of suppliers dont seem to understand anything except PAYE and signups will get harder?
b) what are my best "keepers" post retirement?

On a) would go with all the high bonus cards currently around that you dont have already

• NAB Signature
• St George (or another of that stable) Altitude

and on b) for keepers

• Amex Edge plus Explorer
• St George Amplify (or BOM, BankSA)
• 28 Degrees
• Citibank Debit

Out of interest why does the Amplify from St George get a ‘keeper’ vote?

 

[burmans]

Out of interest why does the Amplify from St George get a ‘keeper’ vote?

For me because I prefer SQ over QFF and this is about as good as you can get (for a non Amex card).

 

[nickfromeastryde]

As a forum, we should really be pooling our ideas as to how to successfully apply for credit cards post retirement. Most of the application forms don't really cater for pension/investment income other than lumping together into one box. Trying to explain what all that means often to an overseas call centre is nigh on impossible as they really have no idea what you are talking about. And almost always, they will ask for payslips and without them in my opinion means automatic rejection.

Currently I salary sacrifice about 50% of my income and I never bother with it when applying for a card. I just put down what the gross/net says on the payslip. When I retire in the next 2-4 years my income will almost double mainly tax free so no help from the ATO either, in effect my days of big bonus credit card offerings will be a thing of the past

 

[cove]

Haven’t done the retirement thing but I hear what retired folks say.
Travel insurance becomes a biggie particularly for US travel. UK not so much as we have a reciprocal deal with them. Don’t travel without travel insurance ever.
You might decide to run with mostly debit cards and buy Life Miles or equivalent for trips in business class or better. So Citi debit would work in most places. You should have a minimum of 2 cards.
What LTO has said seemed sensible regarding Amex cards and St George if you really need them and want to afford them.

 

[Renato1]

As a forum, we should really be pooling our ideas as to how to successfully apply for credit cards post retirement. Most of the application forms don't really cater for pension/investment income other than lumping together into one box. Trying to explain what all that means often to an overseas call centre is nigh on impossible as they really have no idea what you are talking about. And almost always, they will ask for payslips and without them in my opinion means automatic rejection.

Currently I salary sacrifice about 50% of my income and I never bother with it when applying for a card. I just put down what the gross/net says on the payslip. When I retire in the next 2-4 years my income will almost double mainly tax free so no help from the ATO either, in effect my days of big bonus credit card offerings will be a thing of the past

I've been retired for nearly eight years. When I've applied for credit cards, if they ask for net income on on-line forms - then that is easy (and rare).

But they usually ask for gross income, so I add up my net income from tax-free and tax-advantaged streams, then convert it back to the higher gross income figure I would have been getting had I been working (a few iterations at the ATO tax calculator easily lets you find that figure). Then I put in that gross figure into the on-line form. When they ask for evidence of income, I sent them a note explaining that here is the evidence of the net income, and that it translates to the notional gross income I have put in the application.

Often, they have rung me up to question me about it, where I patiently explain it to them - letting them know they would be very silly giving a card to someone else with a higher gross income than my net income, when after tax he or she would have less net income than me.

This has worked numerous times for me.
Regards,
Renato

 

[tgh]

Well done.. Never passed my mind to gross up our pension income with notional tax on a cc application.
The really difficult part for me is setting out our budget/living costs as I have not a clue.
I put some very wild guesses on the last application.
We always receive more than we spend ( a lifetime of parsimony is impossible to discard).
Over time that translates to gross personal ignorance about everyday stuff like the cost of milk bread petrol and rates.

 

[Pushka]

Well done.. Never passed my mind to gross up our pension income with notional tax on a cc application.
The really difficult part for me is setting out our budget/living costs as I have not a clue.
I put some very wild guesses on the last application.
We always receive more than we spend ( a lifetime of parsimony is impossible to discard).
Over time that translates to gross personal ignorance about everyday stuff like the cost of milk bread petrol and rates.

Living costs. I’d heard there was some ‘per monthly’ figure they use as a flag, and if you report below that figure they know you are just guessing.