Where does it come from?

There is a strong, vocal, unquestioning (and hopefully minority) view that increasing super is "necessary". The people pushing this view can never explain why it is necessary.

Here are some recent examples:

http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1600462845

http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1597456849/5#5

http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1593668457/44#44

Meanwhile, the average person is losing thousands of dollars from their savings every year just to fill out the required government paperwork. And that is before they pay for the conventional cost of managing the investment. At the same time, the government is complaining that the country cannot afford the tax breaks people get through their super.

I have a theory that this vocal minority has deluded itself into thinking that superannuation does not come out of their salary. This is because rather than being presented the same way as a tax, super is presented as being 'on top of' their base salary. So people think it is a freebie that comes out of the company profits rather than their own salary.

The company is not going to tell employees that their salary is being reduced, or they are missing out on raises, to pay for super. That would make them unpopular. Most of the well-written propaganda of course comes from the super industry itself - the people being paid billions of dollars a year to complete the government paperwork, and billions more to manage the funds. They are obviously rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of the government forcing everyone to hand their money over to them. They are already hoovering up about 10% of GDP.

There is also a strong link with the unions, who appear to view super as merely another tool in salary negotiations, and to hell with the consequences for everyone else - and for their own members when the union cannot negotiate a real salary increase because employers are sending their salary to superannuation companies. Unions are probably at the pointy end of the mindless, irrational compulsion, because being mindless and irrational is their core business.

Quote:


Plan B = increase the pension age or cutting the pension.

This is the reason it was introduced and the result of the Liberals blocking increases has been to increase the pension age and a second attempt to increase it more.

Quote:


Do you think government bureaucrats will do a better job of investing your savings than private fund managers?

Jest wrote on Sep 20^th, 2020 at 10:33am:


If they don't take commissions, who pays them?

Jest wrote on Sep 20^th, 2020 at 10:36am:


Can you prove that it would make everyone richer?

Jest wrote on Sep 20^th, 2020 at 10:40am:


So you are speaking largely from ignorance and propaganda?

Jest wrote on Sep 20^th, 2020 at 10:44am:


So based on your experience about you and something that happened in Norway, you can confidently predict that the government-run super fund that you are on would make the whole country richer?

freediver wrote on Sep 20^th, 2020 at 10:48am:


Yes based on my experiance. Ohh and my brother in laws experience who is in the private fund the Bank he worked for runs. He rings me regularly to weep about how he wishes he was in my fund. I agree with him. He worked hard. he deserves to have the same benefits as me but because he's in a private fund, set up primarily to make the bank wealthier he will never do as well as my fund.  Its obvious really. Only propagandists would pretend otherwise.

Ohh and yes, my many former work colleagues who live an equally comfortable retirement and often rejoice with me that they're in our Govt run Super fund and not a parasitic predatory super fund. Believe me that's the last thing you want to have to deal with in your retirement.  Your retirement isn't about getting old. Its about that next stage in your life, making new discoveries about life and you cant do that if you dont have enough to live on and having to deal with a private for profit Super fund looking for yet another way to fleece you. That's just miserable and guaranteed to ruin your retirement.