An end to the age of entitlement. Toilet roll please.

In 2015 an elderly man sat outside a bank in Thessaloniki. He sat on the ground crying. The Greek government closed banks for a week and capped ATM withdrawals at 60 Euros per day. When the banks reopened, the highest people could withdraw was one-hundred-and-twenty Euros from their pension.

Australia had a much stronger economy than Greece. And yet, well before the coronavirus, questions were asked about aged pension affordability. Such arguments went along the lines of this taken from ID The Population Experts:

“The baby boom ended in 1962, with a sharp drop in the birth rate. So the last baby boomers will turn 65 in 2026. At that time aged care and pensions will be a major strain on Australian society, and I predict that the government of the time will announce significant but not massive changes to pension and superannuation age. Perhaps an increase in the pension and superannuation age to 70 from 2026, removal of the family home asset exemption for new entrants.”

When the Abbott Government won in 2013, Treasurer Joe Hockey declared the ‘end of the age of entitlement’. He rattled many older Australians by suggesting the retirement age be set at 70.

With knee-jerk handouts and toilet roll stashing behind us, and the reality of a GDP in massive debt before us, how will life change in Australia?

Future governments will need to address some tricky questions. The solutions they arrive at could be many and varied. Will access to your Super be increased to an older age? Could the family home be no longer exempt from asset tests? Those in retirement no longer be able to structure investments and still claim the pension?

No one knows what will happen next year or the year after. One certainty is that this virus, beyond the health toll it already extracts, will see everyone pay.

 

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I've always thought that the family home should be exempt up to a certain level. But people living in mansions shouldn't be receiving a pension. They can downsize and use the money to live on. The public shouldn't be subsidising millenials' and following generations' inheritances. Please don't come in with the precious - "but it's our home and I dont' want to sell it" pathos either. Fine - your choice - keep your mansion and go without a pension then! So sick of the whinging wealthy! Greed is killing this country.

 

 

 

Caz Hi!

I don't think people can get a pension if they have more than $850,000 invested.

Unlike the UK.

But yes it doesn't seem right if you have a $10m dollar home and only $500,000  in the bank and you can get a part pension.

What has irritated me and I first learnt about it a good 20 years ago is people selling up their homes to cash in and go touring overseas and spending the lot, to come home and expect the taxpayer to fund their home & retirement, that is pretty off in my book.

We should all be responsible for our own retirement if possible not spend up and return back and lean on others.

Also while on this topic, those that come out to live in Australia from Britain, the Australian Government has for many years been topping up their Pensions as it is not indexed each year.

But if those same people went to live in Florida, Toronto, Rome or anywhere else the British Government has always topped up their pensions. 

I don't see why this is so?

Australian Government has for years tried to negotiate this but the Brits so far as I know in March 2020 has not done this.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Sophie.

I must look a sight in my sneakers, blue gloves and my one crutch in my shopping trolley!

I have my own Acroid Card too!

I am finding most checkout people lift my shopping bags into my trolley for me without asking these days.

But I have a need to take a lot of bags so the shopping is evenly distributed so the bags are not heavy.

Happy Black And White GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

 

 

I don't think of myself as a 75 year old woman, I just enjoy and smell the roses!

 

 

Hi Celia - Good on you for doing that. I don't ask anyone for help, maybe if I was infirm I would, and  I even lay 19 bags of bark in my little Villa and planted many flowers, I look back and think, "Not bad for an old duck". My boys are amazed at my determination. 

I think both of you are fine examples!

Thank you Sophie.

My late mother was busy in her garden till the age of 88, when she sold up and lived with us as it was getting a bit much for her.  She passed away two weeks before she turned 91.

 

This offer is not available in all states I see!

Even if it were I would not order it, it appears to have hardly anything in it that I could digest anyway.

 

Woolworths is stepping up efforts to get food to elderly and other vulnerable people who are stuck at home as coronavirus spreads 

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8165919/Supermarket-launches-basic-care-package-elderly-vulnerable-people-stuck-home.html?ito=email_share_article-image-share Woolworths is stepping up efforts to get food to elderly and other vulnerable people who are stuck at home as coronavirus spreads

 

Only oats and English Breakfast Tea Bags for me out of that lot 

..... so it would be a bit expensive for me

Suze -   And no guarantee of toilet paper.!!!!!!

If the gov stopped giving all current ex PM's a $1M pension everry yesr, that would save lots of money! They should ALL get a single payment & thagt is it, this payment decided by the people?? 

If the gov stopped giving all current ex PM's a $1M pension everry yesr, that would save lots of money! They should ALL get a single payment & thagt is it, this payment decided by the people?? 

AGREE

ex pm's dont get a 1m pension

they get a multi million dollar per year pension. they also get free first class travel and travel expenses as well as having an office funded by the taxpayer with staff, as well as many other generous allowances.

years ago howard was getting well over 3m per year, and before him i was told keating was getting about 2.7m per year and hawk almost 2m per year. the poorest ex pm was whitlam who only got 1.4m per year. some senators were getting over 1m per year at the time, it depends on how long they "served" in parliament.

 

they also get a generous lump sum payment when they first retire. i dont know if they get regular increases, but just their expense accounts alone would be many times more than a  regular pension.

it appears that each retired  pm gets more than the previous pm, and considering how long these parasites seem to live, which means having heaps of living ex pm's, it seems like a lot of money to waste on parasites who havent "worked" for us taxpayers for decades, not to mention that many would argue that they never actually "worked for us" when they were in power .......

Most Australian sporting stars are taking a pay cut. Some CEO's are sacrificing their salaries for the duration of the crisis. Workers across Australia are getting fewer wages during the employment downturn. Has anyone here heard of a politician or political party whose members offer to take a 50% pay cut during the crisis?

You got a point there Veritas

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has urged officials to ramp up testing suspected 'silent carriers' to prevent a second wave of infections from occurring.China has recorded 630 'imported cases'. A medical worker is pictured taking a swab sample from a person in Wuhan on Monday 

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8167513/China-ramp-testing-coronavirus-carriers-no-symptoms-prevent-second-outbreak.html?ito=email_share_article-image-share

Not only should we stop paying scads of money to ex prime ministers, we should also stop overseas aid.  Australian tax payers' money should be helping Australians.  There are plenty of Australians who could use a bit of extra money and this money should also be available to rectify the dreadful state of our hospitals, schools etc., not to mention the homeless, pensioners, genuine job seekers, etc.

Not only should we stop paying scads of money to ex prime ministers, we should also stop overseas aid.  Australian tax payers' money should be helping Australians.  There are plenty of Australians who could use a bit of extra money and this money should also be available to rectify the dreadful state of our hospitals, schools etc., not to mention the homeless, pensioners, genuine job seekers, etc.

Where is the Web Master we seem to be under attack with some twit.

Lots of spam on. Going back to the old days again are we?

Anyone who tampers with the electronic device faces a $12,000 fine or 12 months in prison (stock) https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8170615/Western-Australians-refuses-self-isolate-forced-wear-electronic-device.html?ito=email_share_article-image-share

Anyone who tampers with the electronic device faces a $12,000 fine or 12 months in prison (stock)

Where is the Web Master we seem to be under attack with some twit.

Lots of spam on. Going back to the old days again are we?

Anyone who tampers with the electronic device faces a $12,000 fine or 12 months in prison (stock) https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8170615/Western-Australians-refuses-self-isolate-forced-wear-electronic-device.html?ito=email_share_article-image-share

Anyone who tampers with the electronic device faces a $12,000 fine or 12 months in prison (stock)

I read quite a few CEO are cutting their own salary to keep their companies going

What is wrong with our Politicians taking a cut in their salary ?

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