You might not be aware Bruce that very few baby boomers had the chance to participate in superannuation schemes. For many it was difficult just to survive on the wages paid in those days and many were disadvantaged from the lingering effects of the second world war. Lots of families were ripped apart or were left with very little after the principal bread winner was either lost or disabled by that war.
As for financial matters, it really was a different era with the emphasis being on buying a house, raising a family without the mother having to go back to work and saving for a rainy day. Little assistance was given by the Government and there wasn't a deep interest financial matters. Superannuation was not even thought about. Fortunately for some the Public Service had a compulsory scheme but other than that not one person in a thousand would even have given planning for retirement a second thought. It was just accepted that you would have to work until age 65 for men, have a couple of years in some sort of retirement and then go quietly to the grave.
Who would have thought that the boomers got to be old and still healthy enough to maybe get a couple of decades on the pension?
Does the age pension cost Australia very much? It could be doubled, be tax free and cost hardly anything. Most pension money goes straight back into the community and, after a little circulation, GST and other taxes ensures that the coffers are topped up. Just think - double the pension and clubs, pubs, domestic tourism enters boom times too.
