Liberal MP, Jason Falinski, believes the overwhelming majority of MPs in Canberra do not want to lift Australia’s superannuation guarantee (compulsory superannuation) to 12%, as currently legislated. From The AFR: [Falinski] told the Financial Services Council Summit in Sydney on Tuesday that behind closed doors support for a freeze was widespread, including among Labor MPs.
The gap between male and female superannuation savings have once again been labelled one of Australia’s greatest inequalities: Almost three out of four “Millennial” women – those born between 1980 and 2000 – told a survey of 1000 people the super system was not designed to support women. Only 25 per cent of women this
Michelle Grattan has penned a spurious article claiming that raising the compulsory superannuation guarantee from the current 9.5% to 12% is essential to ensure adequate savings in retirement as well as to save the federal budget future Aged Pension costs: The temptation for scrapping the rise, or having some “opt-out” system, becomes stronger when wages
Earlier this month, Mercer senior actuary, David Knox, made the false claim that freezing the superannuation guarantee at 9.5% “will hurt average workers” and directly attacked analysis from the Grattan Institute supporting a freeze. Today, the Grattan Institute has hit back, releasing a report debunking Mercer’s arguments. Below are the key points: Mercer argues that retirement
One of the biggest knocks on Australia’s compulsory superannuation system is that because of Australia’s flat 15% tax on contributions, those on lower incomes receive minimal concessions (or are penalised), whereas those on higher incomes receive the biggest tax concessions on contributions: Division 293 remedies the situation for those very high income earners above $250,000.
The legislated increase in the superannuation guarantee continues to attract scrutiny, with former treasurer Peter Costello calling for the issue to be “thoroughly debated” in the Coalition’s partyroom. He says increasing the guarantee from 9.5% at present to 12% by mid-2025 will have “very significant ramifications”: “This is an enormous decision and … should be
One by one, the chief rent seekers behind Australia’s compulsory superannuation rort have attacked the notion of freezing the superannuation guarantee at 9.5%. The latest salvo comes from Martin Fahy – CEO of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) – who has likened those seeking to freeze the superannuation guarantee to being whacko
Mercer senior actuary, David Knox, is the latest to make the false claim that freezing the superannuation guarantee at 9.5% “will hurt average workers”: Mercer senior actuary David Knox said… even with the full 12 per cent guarantee, the average full-time worker would finish with a super payout worth 58 per cent of their pre-retirement
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has indicated that the federal government’s crackdown on conflicted remuneration in the financial planning sector will be harsher than the measures recommended by the Hayne royal commission. Rather than simply banning grandfathered trailing commissions, a bill to be introduced in coming days will also include a scheme to rebate clients for any
This morning I was interviewed by Luke Grant from Radio 2GB where we discussed yesterday’s article “Paul Keating drowns in ocean of super lies”, alongside Dr Bob Birrell’s latest report on the need to tighten partner visas.
The architect of Australia’s compulsory superannuation system, Paul Keating, has spread more super lies, claiming that if the legislated super guarantee was halted at 9.5%, it would be “a retiree’s tax on a grand scale”. From The AFR: “It would be a retiree’s tax on a grand scale. Right? Not the hundreds of thousands with
Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has called for compulsory superannuation to be optional for low-income earners in his maiden speech to parliament. However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says that will not be happening, even if it is recommended by a proposed review into retirement incomes. Similarly, even if the review also recommends that a legislated increase
There’s a new super idiot on the block and his name is Jim Chalmers, Labor’s treasury spokesman. Yesterday, Chalmers launched an extraordinarily deceitful attack on the Morrison Government, claiming it was seeking to “kill” compulsory super in Australia and “rob workers” by cancelling legislated increases in Australia’s superannuation guarantee to 12%. From the New Daily:
The Productivity Commission’s landmark 500-plus page report on Australia’s $2.6 trillion superannuation industry explicitly recommended abolishing compulsory life insurance for people aged under-25: Current settings are more a function of history than considered policy design. …many entrenched problems remain (and insurance accounts for over a third of member complaints against their fund)… Particularly for young
The Australian’s Adam Creighton has asked the question, noting that Australia’s superannuation system is now valued at $2.8 trillion, and yet parliament has failed to agree on what it is for. The current federal government tried a few years ago to enact a bill that would define the purpose of superannuation, but it was never
The New Daily is owned by Industry Super Holdings, so one should expect it to wholeheartedly support lifting Australia’s superannuation guarantee (compulsory superannuation) to 12%, given this would deliver its owners more funds under management to clip the ticket on. This helps to explain why Your Super Editor of the New Daily, Rod Myer, has
The Morrison Government is facing growing pressure from within its ranks to reconsider an increase in the superannuation guarantee from 9.5% to 12% by mid-2025. Andrew Hastie is among seven backbenchers who oppose the increase. Hastie says it would be preferable for people to use this income to pay off their mortgage now rather than
The cost of healthcare is under scrutiny in the wake of revelations that a growing number of Australians are seeking early access to their superannuation to pay medical expenses. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia raised concerns about this trend in February, warning that it demonstrates the need for government funding to the healthcare
Over the weekend, Labor’s shadow Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, vigorously attacked Treasurer Josh Frydenberg for refusing to rule-out axing scheduled increases in Australia’s superannuation guarantee (compulsory super): Labor’s treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers warned on Sunday that the government should rule out any future rollback. “These weasel words from Josh Frydenberg are not good enough – especially
The rent-seeking boss of Australia’s largest superannuation fund, AustralianSuper’s Ian Silk, has urged policymakers to ignore the Grattan Institute’s “flawed and ideological” arguments for scrapping further increases to the superannuation guarantee to 12%. From The AFR: “Those discredited arguments are echoing now as the opponents of super try and lay the groundwork to oppose the
The superannuation guarantee is legislated to increase from 9.5 per cent to 12 per cent between 2021 and 2025, and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has said that the federal government has no plans to change the legislated increase. However, a growing number of Liberal backbenchers are said to be against the increase, and are hopeful that
The Grattan Institute has slammed the legislated increase in the superannuation guarantee (compulsory superannuation) to 12%, claiming it would rob middle income earners of around $30,000 (1%) of lifetime earnings. From The AFR: “It’s hard to think of a policy less in the interests of working Australians than higher compulsory super contributions,” said Brendan Coates,
The 2017 Federal Budget included the below measure aimed at encouraging seniors to downsize from their large homes to free-up housing for Australian families: Yesterday, National Seniors Australia called for the scheme to be expanded to the Aged Pension: Ian Henschke, chief advocate of National Seniors Australia, suggests: “The strong take-up of this very conditional
Some revelatory news breaking over the last few weeks as listed wealth giant Evans Dixon comes under fire with some aggrieved clients choosing the AFR (here and here) as their messenger. The fact that coverage of the issue has yielded ten more complaints to the paper over the following weekend may indicate this is just
The Assistant Minister for Superannuation, Janet Hume, has given the strongest indication yet that the Coalition will scrap the legislated increase in the superannuation guarantee (compulsory super) to 12%, as well as make superannuation contributions voluntary for those aged under 25. From The SMH: Jane Hume urged warring industry and retail funds to “lay down
By Leith van Onselen The Assistant Minister for Superannuation, Janet Hume, says providing better outcomes for superannuation savers is her most important priority. With a rise in the superannuation guarantee from 9.5% to 12% having been legislated but not implemented, Hume says the federal government has a “moral obligation” to ensure that the super system
By Leith van Onselen Actuarial firm Rice Warner is the latest industry player to urge the federal government against any change to the proposed increase in the superannuation guarantee (compulsory superannuation) from 9.5% to 12%. In a paper to be presented to the Actuaries Institute’s annual summit, Rice Warner CEO Michael Rice and head of
By Leith van Onselen The Grattan Institute has previously argued against increasing the superannuation guarantee from 9.5% to 12%. It contends that the increase would cost workers $20 billion a year in forgone wages. However, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) has penned an article claiming that Grattan’s modelling is flawed and that
By Leith van Onselen Maurice Blackburn claims 2.5 million AMP superannuation accounts have been charged too much in administration fees and has launched a class action against the wealth management firm, which follows a shareholder class action already underway , as well as legal action by ASIC. Lawyers believe the damages against AMP could be
By Leith van Onselen Data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority shows that industry superannuation funds recorded 13% growth in funds under management in the year to 31 March, compared with growth of 3.4% for retail funds. The industry funds sector now manages $677.5 billion on behalf of clients, while retail funds now manage $623
