Why is superannuation still a debate in 2026?
Hard to believe, really, this superannuation's still a thing. The OECD report last week told us we need to bump the age. Nicola Willis told us Friday we've got to do something. The Prime Minister goes on ZB on Friday, I think, too, tells us they will campaign again on bumping the age. We should not be here. See, in 1982...
when I started work at the age of 16, it was very clearly in my mind I had to sort my future financially given the debate at the time, 1982. The debate at the time was that superannuation is not affordable and the state could not always be relied upon to be there for you. So if that was a debate in 1982... Why is it still a debate in 2026, having achieved or solved nothing?
The answer, of course, is because it has been political dynamite. No party really wants to risk losing votes over what has been seen as an entitlement. So, first port of call, is it an entitlement or not?
If it is, bump the age, because there is no question we live longer and therefore retirement is not what it was and it will continue to evolve. Or, my preference, make it a benefit. We see Labour's fees-free doctor thing As a money-wasting joke, why does a person like me on a good salary need a free doctor? I don't. Stop wasting money. So why not apply the same to retirement? Do you need it?
If yes, you get some assistance. If no, then save the dollars for somebody else. But some still argue it's the reward for a life's work. Is it? The reward for a life's work, I would have thought, is money in the bank, a bit of travel, and no alarm. The country doesn't owe me anything. Equally, that old farcical line about you having paid taxes, you realise that was never true.
The taxes you paid have been spent. Every year, almost every year, we spend more than we earn. There are no savings. There is no surplus.
Your taxes paid for health care and government departments and roads and beneficiaries, like so many of life's issues, when you complicate them and fiddle with them, they remain unsolved. Kicking it down the road isn't a skill, it's a lack of backbone. At some point, someone has to be honest enough to pull the pin.
It is not 1968 and 65 isn't old. This thing has been debated so long now... It's actually become boring. For more from the Mike Hosking Breakfast, listen live to News Talk ZB from 6 a.m. weekdays or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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