| binary solo said: Lol, you are going by what the Cato institute it saying, and ultra-capitalist think tank? Those graphs aren't even showing the same thing, so you can't compare. It also shows a complete lack of understanding of the system. There are 2 retirement systems that operate together: Superannuation - compulsory % income contributions by employees AND employers. Age Pension - paid universally out of taxes, but is income tested. This is basically like social security. If your superannuation exceeds a certain threshold then your age pension goes down by a %, but not 1:1. If you actually want to educate yourself about what the scheme is instead of looking at meaningless graphs by right-wing think tanks with an agenda and an axe to grind you might start here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superannuation_in_Australia |
With regards to the charts:
"The two charts aren’t analogous, of course, but that’s because there’s nothing to compare. The Social Security system has no savings. Indeed, it discourages people from setting aside income.
And Australia’s superannuation system doesn’t have anything akin to America’s unfunded liabilities. The closest thing to an analogy would be the safety net provision guaranteeing a basic pension to people with limited savings (presumably because of a spotty employment record)."
But it isn't just the Cato Institute which was promoting it.
From the moderate/left-wing Boston College Center for Retirement Research
"The program requires employers to contribute 9 percent of earnings, rising to 12 percent by 2020, to a tax-advantaged retirement plan for each employee age 18 to 70 who earns more than a specified minimum amount. …Over 90 percent of employed Australians have savings in a Superannuation account, and the total assets in these accounts now exceed Australia’s Gross Domestic Product. …Australia has been extremely effective in achieving key goals of any retirement income system. …Its Superannuation Guarantee program has generated high and rising levels of saving by essentially the entire active workforce."
but they did criticize it for this
"Australia’s means-tested Age Pension creates incentives to reduce one’s “means” in order to collect a higher means-tested benefit. This can be done by spending down one’s savings and/or investing these savings in assets excluded from the Age Pension means test. What makes this situation especially problematic is that workers can currently access their Superannuation savings at age 55, ten years before becoming eligible for Age Pension benefits at 65. This ability creates an incentive to retire early, live on these savings until eligible for an Age Pension, and collect a higher benefit, sometimes referred to as “double dipping.”"
