Superannuation

The reader response to The Punch article, 12 January 2012, “Why have we abandoned our troops?” highlighted a deep misunderstanding of the central tenet of the article, and, more worryingly, a flawed knowledge of the actual conditions of service applicable in the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

Some of the more ill-informed myths about what entitlements our military men and women received were:

• Tax free salaries – No (but there are some concessions when deployed to war zones).

Continue reading "War is hell, and military life is no picnic" »

Global financial markets are going completely bananas. Again.  Financial experts worldwide are calling on leaders for some direct action to bring certainty to the struggling Greek and southern European economies. So what does all this mean for us? Australian treasurer Wayne Swan has described it as a dangerous new phase, while other economists have urged the RBA to take immediate action to avoid being caught up in the recessionary sweep. Eager to find out what all that actually means, The Punch asked Saul Eslake, senior economist at the Grattan Institute to give us the low down.

1. How much could the current crisis affect Australia? How worried should we be?

The current ‘crisis’ reflects (first) the increasing likelihood (as markets see it) that Greece will default on its debts, resulting in losses that may render some banks who hold large amounts of Greek government debt insolvent, and that in the aftermath of a Greek default other countries (Portugal, perhaps Spain or even Italy, the latter two being much larger than Greece) will be more likely to default; and (second) the increasing likelihood that Europe and/or the US may slip into a second recession, in which case governments and central banks would have very little capacity to respond in the normal way (by cutting interest rates or doing fiscal stimulus).

Continue reading "Punch Q&A: GFC #2 and what it means for us" »

Not since Paul Keating introduced compulsory superannuation contributions in the early 1990s has there been such an important opportunity to change the way Australians think about saving for their retirement.

This urgent need for change is magnified when Australians are asked how much they actually know about their superannuation. A recent survey by Suncorp Life found 49 per cent of us don’t understand our super, and 30 per cent of us don’t believe our super is even our own money. Annual changes to the superannuation system are also a constant and frustrating occurrence. That’s why it’s vital for the Government to get it right this time.

The results of the much-anticipated Cooper Review announced last week urge a range of sweeping reforms to superannuation, and herald an exciting new era for the industry. The question is whether the Government is prepared to do what’s needed to simplify the system, and restore Australian’s confidence in superannuation.

Continue reading "We might save more in super if we knew where it went" »

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" »

What the hell was that? As a parent with a child in school for the first time I have just withstood a round of what I suspect will become the regular school holiday juggle.

After taking one week’s leave the battle-plans were laid out: a day with said child in the office, play dates lined up, grandparents locked in – and then she gets sick meaning the fragile house of cards came tumbling down.

It’s a simple rule of math really, schoolkids have around 12 weeks of holidays each year while their parents average four - that’s a lot of time when households are juggling care.

Continue reading "Juggling family life - how leave doesn’t add up" »

Financial planners will no doubt tell you the world has just ended. The government’s corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), this week revealed proposals to ban all commissions, volume bonuses, kickbacks and percentage-based fees paid to financial advisers.

But while the industry launches into a noisy whinge, consumers are likely to see things differently.

For years consumers have been struggling to figure out if financial advisers are really working for us or whether advisers are simply pushing financial products to serve their own financial interests.

Continue reading "It’s worth asking who’s paying your financial advisor" »

As of yesterday about one-million hard-working Australians discovered that Kevin Rudd’s campaign promise to stand up for “working families” came with an invisible asterisk.

The asterisk denotes - “promise does not include all working families”.

Especially those families who work a little bit too hard, who pay a higher rate of tax because they hold more senior jobs, work longer hours, have taken risks starting businesses, employing other people, and have got themselves into a position where with their super, their private health care, their choice of hospitals and schools, they are constantly taking pressure off the public system.

Continue reading "Class war budget betrays hardest-working families" »