Retirement

“The willingness of future generations to serve in our military will be directly dependent upon how we have treated those who have served in the past.”  George Washington.

So the politicians have seen fit to grant themselves another pay rise. No, sorry, the Federal Remuneration Tribunal has granted them a pay rise and they have accepted its ruling. Changing the legislation to say no is apparently not an option.

What many may not realise is that politician pay rises benefit not just current politicians, but all qualifying pre-2004 retired politicians. If those retired politicians are survived by their spouse this pay rise also goes to them.

Continue reading "Why have we abandoned our troops?" »

Princess Mary is currently holidaying in Tassie, but she’s not the only home-grown royalty in town.

From a humble upbringing in country Mowbray, Ricky Thomas Ponting has ascended to arguably the loftiest post in the wide brown land; Australian Cricket Captain. While he’s come under fire of late from the media, selectors and fans on the mainland, the support back home has been unwavering.

The headline from Launceston rag The Examiner before his debut test read: “He’s Ricky Ponting, he’s ours… and he’s made it! Tassie’s batting star will play in his first Test”. And the Taswegian media have been waxing lyrical about Punter ever since.

Continue reading "Punter, stop hedging your bets. Retire now" »

If you’re decades older than the retirement age but you really love your job, should you still retire?

One of Britain’s oldest workers didn’t think so. Syd Prior, a worker at a DIY superstore, retired at age 96 last week. He said the job kept him young.

All you working people out there, would you ever work past your retirement age? And what about you retirees? Is retirement all that it’s sometimes cracked up to be? What are the best and worst parts of it? It’s Monday, folks. What’s on your mind?

Tiger Woods is one contradictory cat. There’s a human being inside that shell, a living, breathing, joke-cracking, thoughtful guy with all kinds of normal human feelings.

But there’s also a mercenary. A man who this week privately played golf with anonymous Chinese millionaires for huge sums of money. A golfing enthusiast who will rave about Australia’s world class golf courses, and how he wishes America had more courses like ours, then greedily pocket three million for the privilege of playing here.

But if you think Tiger is ruthless in the way he subjugates all dignity in his endless quest to accumulate money, that’s nothing on the way he suppresses his own emotions. At his Tuesday media call at The Lakes Golf Club, which The Punch attended, he didn’t once acknowledge the effect his marital break-up and sex scandal had on his golf game.

Continue reading "Washed-up champs who don’t know when to quit" »

I am becoming increasingly tired of seeing, hearing or reading in the media, former Prime Ministers or politicians struggling to retire from political power and influence with dignity.

Anyone with even a modest interest in politics could compile a substantial list in just a few minutes. Think Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, Pauline Hanson, Peter Beattie, Bob Carr, Cheryl Kernot, Jeff Kennett, Mark Latham, John Hewson, Peter Costello, Graham Richardson and Peter Reith and you will have just started. Why don’t these ex-pollies just put the kettle on and relax?

Then of course there is deposed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd who is suffering the “Kath and Kim “ syndrome: “Look at me, look at me, look at me!”

Continue reading "FOOI #10: Ex-pollies, just shut up and put the kettle on" »

So Ricky Ponting has quit as Australian cricket captain. About time. And Ricky Ponting will still be available for selection as a regular member of the team. As he should be.

Months and even years of speculation were laid to rest at the SCG today, when Ponting announced his seven year reign was over. “I’ve still got a lot to offer as player,” he told a hefty media contingent. “Younger players can learn from me and the way I play, and there’s no better place for them to learn than in the heat of the battle.”

Before the announcement, a few wise-cracking journalists were framing the odds of Ponting breaking into tears. Didn’t happen. Ponting only made his decision last night, and called Michael Clarke first thing this morning to tell him. But he kept his emotions in check, even if his crumpled notes suggested he’d rehearsed his lines long into the night to keep the waterworks at bay.

Continue reading "There, that wasn’t so hard, was it Ricky?" »

What do you do with your life when what is left can be counted in years, rather than decades?

When the realisation hits that you are sliding into oblivion?

This new fear is aided and abetted by the overwhelming attitude of the community towards the elderly.

Continue reading "Life. Most definitely NOT a rehearsal" »

The sudden resignation of Murray-Darling Basin Authority chair, Mike Taylor, was a reminder that with complex national reforms, there’s many a slip between cup and lip.

Two schools of thought emerged. One cast Mr Taylor’s departure as a setback because a strong advocate of a healthy river system had been muzzled. The other held that an enviro-fundamentalist who saw the good as the enemy of the great, had bowed out clearing the way for a workable deal for the river.

Actually both are true.

Continue reading "Julia’s Year of Living Rigorously" »

Forty billion dollars gone; four million Australians out of pocket; fees charged for services that are never delivered. It’s the biggest scam you’ve never heard of, and there’s a very real chance you’re a victim.

Indeed, according to the results of a groundbreaking research project last month, a series of questionable practices in Australia’s superannuation industry are gouging close to $80,000 from the retirement savings of many average income earners.

Most worryingly, the same report warned that without immediate, decisive action to fix these serious problems $120 billion more could be siphoned off in the next decade alone.

Continue reading "Super scams flush billions from retirement savings" »

In 1992 Paul Keating’s leadership motivated me to join the Labor Party. Keating provided the labour movement with the leadership, vision and fighting spirit needed to combat the regressive Fightback package.

Keating won the election, and Labor celebrated a great win against neo- liberalism. What followed was a period of government where Keating’s great intellect and vision was pitted against his arrogance, exhaustion and electoral indifference.

This was a difficult and frustrating period for many Labor supporters and I remember periods of despair at our performance. After 1996 the whole labour movement shied away from defending Keating, his Government and his politics due to the collective scars caused by his defeat.

Continue reading "Labor should finish job Keating started on super" »

IF you are an Australian in your early fifties and starting to think, however fleetingly, about retirement, the future you thought you had just changed dramatically.

In an aside in Wayne Swan’s Budget speech he announced the retirement age would be lifted by two years, to 67. There can’t be much that the Treasurer has enjoyed about putting this frightful Budget together, but he might take some quiet consolation in remembering John Howard was that age when he was involuntarily retired as Prime Minister in November 2007.

Lifting the retirement age should come as a relief to younger workers. I love old people – I know some, and sometimes even talk to them. But having a general understanding that you stop paying taxes and start taking them instead at 65 years of age is both ageist and something the country cannot afford to continue.

Continue reading "In one breath, Swan changed your retirement plans" »