Hi Indy,

Again I say I'm not opposed to the aged pension, or any welfare as such, I'm a socialists and I see welfare as a reasonable ideal for a caring society. However I am opposed to waste, and like with so many things in our society today there is greed, waste and extravagance among us. I am very much a believer in suitability, providing for the future. The big problem with the aged pension, and it is the biggest single budget cost of the Australian government, the problem is sustainability. Regardless of the fact you and I have paid taxes in the past, the reality is the government has to find this financial year $51 billion to pay the age pension. This figure is growing at an alarming rate, $72 billion projected in five years, nearly 50% increase and no end in sight. With no sustainability to the system there is going to be the inevitable cuts to the pension.

My eldest son has at least 30 years of work ahead of him before retirement, he is paying the tax now that is paying the pension now. In 30 years as things presently stand there is no possibility of him receiving an aged pension at the 2019 level, if a pension exists at all then. He is going to have to rely on the money he is putting away in superannuation. Indy, you and others like you may well be some of the last real beneficiaries of the aged pension.

BTW Indy, you will be pleased with this news. I may well be joining you on the aged pension shortly. I went down to Sydney last week and we saw our accountant. The good news is if one person in a couple is a foreign citizen, like the wife, then if you are prepared to set up a family trust in that country in her name, and transfer appropriate Australian assets into the foreign trust, paying tax in that country, not Australia, keep up to $390k in assets and cash in Australia, plus the family home. Providing the trust only pays a small annual dividend then it does not affect her entitlement to NZ supa, and with little income then Australia pays the aged pension top up to both. The down side is I have to trust the wife with most of our assets. Thank god for Capitalism! Maybe. Accountant tells me about $5k or $6k to set up.

Hi Paul,

A small forest of straw men there :) .

Of course, everybody who reaches pensionable age should receive the pension, some out of necessity, some out of right as a consequence of their tax contributions.

But it's means tested, so some people who have worked - I don't mean in the public service, Individual, but actually worked - all their lives, can't receive the pension, for which they've paid taxes - while people who have never worked (or saved) in their lives, get it automatically. Capitalism is so unjust.

I certainly support the NZ model, even if it means that, out of the hypothetically-fixed budget for pensions, everybody receives a bit less.

And perhaps some funds allocated to unemployment benefits could be slid across in the budget to keep pensions topped up ?

i.e. to each according to his labour: the old socialist principle. I wouldn't go so far as to say, "He who does not work, neither shall he eat." But reward for effort surely should be roughly commensurate ?

Cheers,

Joe

reward for effort surely should be roughly commensurate
Loudmouth,
Precisely !

Loudmouth,
Odd, no Flak from the snowflakes as yet ?

Hi there me old sods, me sees you are still locked into the virtues of 19th century Protestantism. "A fair days work, for a fair days pay" and all that idealistic guff. I don't think the 19th century Protestant Establishment actually practised what they preached, but who are we to condemn. Here's another one;

"reward for effort surely should be roughly commensurate"

In an ideal world that should well be the case, but who determines the degree of effort, and the appropriate reward? In the real world however things are somewhat different. The reality is, reward for exploration, is what counts. If you have it, and others want it, then they have to pay. Something as simple as supply and demand.