I think the concept of super is a great thing - how it is run is pretty dismal though.
I can't agree with kincella's "you are encouraged to save your money for your retirement...not wait for a govnut handout..."
Nope, I think that is incorrect - mostly they have got it right but limiting people to $25k input is one of the stupidest things I have ever seen - at least in the few remaining years of a working life.
It seems incredulous to me that the govt. would limit someone to such a small amount from age of say 55 onwards - at least until some dollar amount in super - say $1m to $2m.
If someone in the last few years of their working lives gets a large salary - and they don't have enough in super to retire comfortably on - they they end up with a giant tax bill, only a bit more in super and end up with their accountants trying to get them a govt' pension -- how dumb is that?
The govt. it appears would rather gather tax in the last few years of someone's career and pay them a pension for life than forgo that tax and see them self-funded from then on - doesn't make sense to me. At all levels of social security the only thing I can see that the government is really expert in is creating poverty traps - they do it with an A+.
As to someone saying that 10% or more is hard work - I don't believe that - once your fund is in pension mode and tax free there are many good fully franked stocks around that 10% gross is a shoe in (at present).
