The old age pension of 65 was legislated when the normal life expectancy was about 60 , it was an election ploy when medicines , medical procedures and technology were in their infancy . The funds were never allocated/funded and the pensions came from direct tax revenue . It was an election ploy only meant for a few that survived past 65 but now it has ballooned out into an unfunded nightmare for governments.
Means testing = stealth....stealing from us its citizens .
You have paid taxes towards an old age pension and successive govt mantra stated the money had been put aside .
In a fair and equitable world when you reach 65 you should be granted the old age pension without strings attached. Whether you put a nest egg aside or you sat on your arse or for whatever other reason should be of no consequence ie no means testing.
Just imagine if you had not put anything aside , the means testing would be far worse , there would be no tax free allocated pensions and the like , we would be taxed to the heavens , the self retirement age of 55 would be 65 , the old age pension age 80 , any super would be gobbled up by govt graft , cupboard would be bare ..welcome russia...
From the Henry review and the Greens want to include the family home , an attempt to trap the folk with $million mansions , tax free allocated pensions and who claim the full old age pension....thus the new rules on deeming A/P's..I would expect that any new formula would give an average home price allowance and anything above that would be added in the total assets and deemed....trying to catch rich "fraudsters"....
Sabbath states he is hedging his bets , I am going to the edge and going it alone . I have 2 years b4 I am 65 and by then the landscape probably would be changed drastically , we have a ballooned age retirement and labor's debt... I retired myself at 55 with no govt assistance , I downsized my house , my suburb , my car and my bottles of scotch...haha....and invested the surplus , I am ok but not great and I distance myself from govt , but then again if I fall on my backside there is always some sort of old age pension as a parachute...
