Paul Rogan
Pension Boost has a petition running to bring the government’s reverse mortgage solution known as the Pension Loans Scheme (PLS) into line with regulations that have applied to commercial reverse mortgage providers since 2012 which were introduced to protect vulnerable seniors.
“The numbers may be modest, but the sentiment amongst seniors is strong and government needs to listen if they want to remove barriers to the take up of the PLS across Australia,” said Paul Rogan, Pension Boost Founder and CEO.
Pension Boost strongly believes that all seniors should be afforded equivalent protection when accessing ‘reverse mortgage style contracts’ irrespective of whether they are provided by commercial providers or the government. Currently, the government provides no protection to consumers for negative equity situations arising from the PLS.
Absent this crucial consumer protection, the most vulnerable seniors (or their estates) may be exposed to the risk of owing the government a debt after their home is sold. Based on the thousands of PLS projections Pension Boost has done for clients, the seniors most exposed to negative equity risk appear to be those who:
- Have modest levels of net equity in their home
- Have a relatively large existing loan mortgaged against their home
- Live in remote or rural areas with low property growth rates/prospects
- Are relatively early in their retirement (late 60s/early 70s) so can be expected to live for another 25 years or more.
Pension Boost works on behalf of Retirees considering PLS
Pension Boost is a private commercial venture founded by Paul Rogan in 2019. Its purpose is to assist everyday Australian seniors to live a better life. There are 1.8 million seniors on the Age Pension who own property, with many struggling to make ends meet.
Pension Boost are specialists in the Australian Government’s Pension Loans Scheme (PLS). They act as agents for clients when dealing with Centrelink/DVA to take the hassle out of the process.
Some of the ways Pension Boost assists seniors include:
- Raising awareness of the PLS (one of the government’s best kept secrets)
- Educating seniors on what the PLS is, its ‘rules’ and how it works
- Assisting seniors and their families decide whether the PLS may be of benefit to them
- Demonstrating to seniors via the Pension Boost Calculator what the PLS may mean for them and their families financially
- Determining the type of Pension Loan that best suits a senior’s individual circumstances
- Removing the hassle of dealing with Centrelink/DVA by acting as an ‘agent’
- Assisting seniors with their application for the Pension Loan
- Dealing with any questions or queries raised by Centrelink/DVA
- Providing ongoing reporting and reviews of a senior’s cash flow needs and Pension Loan level, to ensure they remain in control of the net equity in their home, and have the funds to make ends meet.
By Paul Rogan, Founder and CEO
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- Background information: Government ‘double standards’ placing Australian Pension borrowers at risk
- Petition at change.org: Protect seniors – introduce a No Negative Equity Guarantee to the Pension Loans Scheme