Australia’s baby boomers say the retirement system and pension needs work

It seems as though the government sometimes forgets that superannuation wasn’t compulsory until 1991 and many baby boomers don’t have that huge nest egg that gets spoken about regularly. But now, a survey of over 4000 over-50s has proven this is a reality, and it needs to change.

Australia’s retirement system has been the source of much debate in the last year, and with the Budget just around the corner, Australia’s seniors are nervous for what their future holds. The pension doesn’t seem to be increasing, and there’s talk of asset tests and changes to super.

In a survey conducted by Your Life Choices, 60 per cent of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that a family home, if valued above $2.5 million, should not be excluded from the pension eligibility assets test, reports SMH.

“Perhaps the most surprising result in the survey, and contrary to expectation, is that the family home is no longer considered sacrosanct when it comes to the age pension assets test,” publisher Kaye Fallick told Fairfax.

Surprisingly, there’s been support for changes to super – especially for high income earners. 2 out of 3 respondents believe reform of the superannuation system is required to reduce generous tax concessions.

“Older Australians are not averse to change nor overly protective of all retirement assets and tax advantages, as much current ‘generational warfare’ hype might lead us to believe,” Ms Fallick said.

Another interesting result from the survey showed big support for Labor’s policy of doubling the rate at which super contributions are taxed for those earning more than $250,000 a year.

But the main issue that was widely agreed upon was an overhaul of the entirely retirement system – 82 per cent agree that a review is necessary as the ageing population swells.
But Labor’s proposal to tax super earnings at a concessional rate for earnings above $75,000 in a year was not popular among respondents even though it would only really affect the wealthiest superannuants.

Tell us, how do you feel about Australia’s retirement system? What needs to change?