OLD AGE PENSION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 15, 19 January 1932, Page 11

OLD AGE PENSION.

A CURIOUS ANOMALY. WHEN LAND IS A BURDEN. THRIFTY PENALISED. It seems strange that a man find himself better off without land than with it, but that is actually the case .of certain people who have been compelled to apply for the old age pension. Admittedly it is impossible to frame a law that will be just and fair to everyone, and this anomaly in the case of the.law specially framed to help old people in the evening of life is proof that 110 matter how much goodwill may be intended some hardship is bound to be inflicted 011 somebody. The case in point Is that of Mr. Blank. At the age of 04 he had £300 in the savings bank, and owned his house.and two additional sections that he had bought with the idea ot' cultivating them; but then his health failed, and he bad to think about applying for the old age. pension. He had not gone into the law 011 pensions, and if he had he would have fliat of ail got rid of his superfluous sections. At that time there was a good demand for sections, and lie would have put them 011 the market at a price attractive enough to attract cash buyers, paid the State Insurance Department £520 for an annuity of £02, left £50 in tlie savings bank, and' then been eligible for the full old age pension of £45 10/, and lived comfortably on a total income of only a few shillings less than £100 a year. Income Halved. Unfortunately lie was not aware of the law, and held 011 to his land, which he was endeavouring to sell at the current price, but without success. When approaching the age of 08, with half his capital gone, he accidentally learned of the law regarding prospective old age pensioners owning land. He invested his remaining cash in an annuity, and applied for the pension, but the usua I deduction was made because of the sections lie owned in addition to his home, and the net result was that instead of having an income of nearly £100 he was only drawing £50 all told. In the meantime his district was absorbed by the adjoining local body, his rates were trebled, he had to connect up with the drainage, and rates and cost of drain connection cost him £40. Unable to live 011 £10, he went to work again, against the doctors advice, and contracted a worse illness. Living in his own home cost him 50 per cent, more than the rent of a suitable bach oi' room. His net income was .actually less, than half, of what it would have been if lie had. possessed-neither home nor money, but merely lived in a rented room at 10/ a week, and drawu the full pension of £45 10/ a. year. Telling his story, Mr. Blank asks: "Is that the way to encourage industry and thrift Improving the Act. Odd as it may seem, the facts are as set out above. Under the Old Age Pensions Act an applicant is allowed to have an income of £52 a year, and for every £1 he or she receives .over and above that sum, £1 is taken off the pension. The home property, the property 011 which the applicant lives, is 110 c involved; it is exempt up to any value. As to other property owned by the applicant, tiie law allows him £50 worth, and every £10 worth hp. possesses above that limit will reduce his pension by £1 a year. In the old days there were limits to the value of the home property. The original Act said it must not exceed £240, then the limit was raised to £340, afterwards to £390, then £320, until some five years ago the. limit was abolished.