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Treasurer has his eye on older Australians

Treasurer has his eye on older Australians

Last updated by Chris Zinn on
Older Australians are wary of the new Federal Treasurer’s talk of tax reform, research by the 130,000-member FiftyUp Club reveals.

Treasurer, Scott Morrison MP, has set himself the task of convincing ordinary Australians that we need tax reform. 

The Treasurer is particularly focused on older Australians and unlocking their capital to increase retirement incomes.

Take part in the poll and tell us if you think retirees have the option to sell the family home and downsize without affecting their pension?

A recent survey of almost 18,000 older Australians provides insight into the very demographic the Treasurer is appealing to. The study of the over 50s has found;

  • almost half (45%) think tax concessions for people with large super balances should be wound back, however 34% disagree with this and another 1 in 5 don’t know;
  • the low interest environment has been a disaster for half of older Australians getting lower interest on their savings;
  • they are not convinced that a change to the GST is necessary (46% do not support any change, while 46% would support an increase in rate/and or broadening of the base).

The FiftyUp Club nation-wide study into cost of living pressures highlights why the budget needs to be carefully balanced with a particular focus on the ageing population.

One of the billion-dollar questions for the government is how Australia is going to support the growing numbers of retirees. The survey found;

  • 2 out of 3 Australians have or will retire on $300,000 or less because superannuation was not compulsory in their day.
  • 75% of older Australians, are, or will be, dependant on the full or part-time pension

“The challenge for government is about getting the balance right between supporting the older Australians and ensuring retirement incomes policies are sustainable,” FiftyUp Club spokesperson Christopher Zinn said.

It’s important politicians start to understand the pressure older Australians face. The study found 85% said these issues were either important or very important to their vote at the next election, and that could be any time soon.

We'd love to read your comments about how you feel about proposed changes.

Originally posted on .

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Treasurer has his eye on older Australians

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christopher
christopher from NSW commented:

The government does not really need more revenue. What it does need is a major reduction in expenditure. That is the issue you should be exploring. Chris Baxter 

Someone
Someone from NSW commented:

We cannot expect the community to pay pensions to people who live in $2000000 houses and who choose not to reverse mortgage the home just so their, probably already wealthy, children can inherit. This is middle income welfare at its worst. It is just expecting the battlers to support the greedy. 

Lyn
Lyn from NSW commented:

It's not the ' community ' that pays pensions, it's taxes that we retirees paid all our working lives of 45 - 50yrs when the rules were that our taxes at the time paid pensions to those of retirement age at any time in last 50 years no matter what level of home one chose to save and acquire in a working life by going without other things. In a way it was a ' silent contract ' for what we were supposed to expect and planned for as we worked and saved, and we were encouraged to do so by Govts of various persuasions and now our Govt has reneged on that contract. The value of a person's home has nothing to do with the payment of a pension because some chose to save and pay for more expensive homes from after-tax income instead of buying bottles of wines, beer or fashionable shoes. EVERYONE HAD A CHOICE OF WHERE TO SPEND THEIR WAGES AND ALL OUR WAGES WERE TAXED EQUALLY WHEN WE EARNED THOSE WAGES. A home choice was no different from the choice to either buy cheap shoes which didn't last or save up and buy good quality shoes which did last but to buy less of them and have them repaired. Do not forget that all these purchases were from AFTER-TAX income & we all had a free choice in that. 

Someone
Someone from NSW replied to Lyn:

I agree that some people made wiser choices than others with their after tax income. But pensions are for those who need it..Paying taxes doesn't give you a RIGHT to a pension. Paying superannuation gives you the right to an income stream on retirement. But not everyone had the opportunity to build up a good super payout. Some may have spent many years out of the workforce or may have changed jobs when super wasn't transferable. Taxes is community money. We pay taxes so the government can pay for essential services and give help to those who need it. 

Lyn
Lyn from NSW commented:

Yes it does give you a right to a pension if you paid all your taxes honestly just as it did for the generation before for whom I never minded that my tax when working went to paying aged pensions when I was young to those who needed it. I never complained once in my working life about the pensions being paid to existing seniors who needed it & yet now it seems fashionable to senior-bash. You have to remember that there are many women who never had much access to superannuation and it is through the tax system that we have paid for the right to a pension or part-pension if we have some super. You are right that not all had the opportunity to build up super & especially women who had fragmented working lives due to bringing up children and often then had partners who left after the women had done that. In this thread there are some who think an aged pension/part pension is a welfare benefit. I still maintain that any age pension is not welfare. It was the rule of the time. We worked and contributed via hard work and taxes, and we women were led by Govts to expect that would be rewarded when we would no longer be employable. And yes, some women still managed to save small amounts though Superannuation if we weren't kept in the dark like mushrooms about finance as most blokes at the time thought we should be. A part-pension is not benefits as the word benefits has come to be known. 

Someone
Someone from NSW replied to Lyn:

As you say Lyn, "I never minded that my tax.....went to paying aged pensions.....to those who needed it". My concern is that some people with mansions worth millions, are receiving pensions. I seriously doubt that they need it. Even if they are asset rich and cash poor, they could easily reverse mortgage their home and live comfortably, in their own home, without being a drain on the rest of the community. The whole point of almost all taxes is that the community will be able to offer support to those who NEED IT. It is not a question of "I paid taxes, therefore I deserve a pension." Pensions are for those who need it. 

Lyn
Lyn from NSW commented:

Hi Anon of NSW. Perhaps, but every case is different. Single, retired women in the MIDDLE range of assets under the new rules will be badly affected as they never had opportunity to ' get the house ' or contribute much to Super in fragmented working lives due to time-out for having children. Depends on one's perspective if male or female. Today, women are almost equal in financial stakes on the whole but that wasn't so for lots of women in last 40yrs. as they come up to retirement now or are already retired. Keep the comments up as I love reading what you have to say! 

Allan
Allan from NSW commented:

I agree with most of the comments and certainly with the ones about politicians of all sides learn to serve us but they seem to forget that requirement when they get into parliament and they thin they know all. I do not want to move from my home which I have worked hard for and have health insurance and all types of insurance and live within my means with small investments and part pension but this like the rest of the comments has not come easy and I will hope we get some good independents up for election as the major parties have forgotten the majority of Australians who have saved for retirement let the pollies lead by example and we will follow them. 

Peter
Peter from NSW commented:

I totally agree with the previous comments.Pollies should look at their own pensions first.We have worked hard and gone without for years to get where we are now,not rich but comfortable.We cannot afford to travel business class let alone first class.!Take a hard look at all the freeloaders before us.Tony's comment says it all. 

Allan
Allan from NSW commented:

It is all very well for the new treasurer to think that we older Australians can afford higher taxes or able to sell our hard earned home when the truth is, we cant. It is about time the federal MPs start looking at their "entitlements" , salaries and the very generous pensions they enjoy. Not one word about how MPs are helping to clear the nations debt. Leave our finances alone, Mr Morrison until you look at yours! 

Geoff
Geoff from NSW commented:

Its easy , STOP tinkering with Pensions/Super/ and Changes for those who have already retired , the Majority have little scope to move on , either by selling their home, downsizing , and staying in the area where their family is . And why should we , most houses improve in value ,..... if we had known that changes would be made in our retirement years , we might have been able to change course ..... its too late now ... 

James Lionel
James Lionel from NSW commented:

What about us Australians who have very little super but we have bought a home and trying our best to try and pay it off. But our super is too little. We have tried our best to give to our country Australia our all .I am still at work god willing to give to my country my everything. Thanks for giving me a chance to have my say. 

Lyn
Lyn from NSW replied to James Lionel:

Well done for your comment. Pay the home off & forget about sacrificing life for Super as you will be better off from 1/1/17 with less in super. Absolutely no point any longer in saving more than you need to as the less you have, the more part-pension you will get. Most current retirees are now having a spend-up on fixing odd jobs in our old homes that have been put off for years as we used to save those repairs to be made but no point any more if one will lose $90/wk from 1/1/17. 

Helen
Helen from NSW commented:

Over a lifetime my husband & I have done nothing but sacrifice to enable us to be at the point we are today, we are not wealthy & certainly don't feel we should be the sacrificial lambs to enable this government to give benefits not only to overseas migrants but to the lazy Australians who choose not to work. Use some common sense & give old age benefits to those who have worked for this country not to those who have done nothing but suck the life out of it. 

Gabrielle
Gabrielle from NSW replied to Helen:

Not just lazy Australians but ALL the illegal immigrants that have overstayed their VISA are working cash in hand never paid any tax didn't contribute to the growth of the nation have a medicare card, get residency then citizenship and then keeping working until they are eligible for the pension@!! laughing all the way to the bank and a slap in the face to the honest hardworking tax paying citizens. Apparently, there are over 50,000 illegal immigrants (I think it's a lot more than that) To apply for a pension the application form should request the applicants TFN so that Centrelink can cross check whether this person has paid their taxes so the pension can be approved. Not to mention they give birth to children wait ten years then come out of hiding and get automatic citizenship. 

Gertraud
Gertraud from ACT replied to Gabrielle:

I doubt that there are too many "illegal immigrants" able to receive an age pension in Australia. As to your comment that the pension claim form should contain the claimant's TFN, it does see question 33 with the comment that claimants are not forced to disclose their TFN but failure to do so would mean no payment. Furthermore, it requires claimants to provide details of where they were born, if overseas, how long they have resided in Australia, what type of visa they had on arrival including Visa number, which countries they lived in since birth and for how long, etc, etc. As for tax avoidance, I can think of plenty of people - in particular small business owners and tradies, that declare just a portion of their actual income on their tax return. 

Gabrielle
Gabrielle from NSW replied to Gertraud:

Thanks Gertraud for enlightening me on TFN disclosure on the pension claim form. That's very interesting. 

Gertraud
Gertraud from ACT replied to Gabrielle:

You're welcome. I thought it would be odd for a government department to hand out cash without wanting the claimant's TFN, so I checked. 

Tony
Tony from NSW commented:

It is about time that politicians of all persuasions realised that taxes raised is money entrusted to them to manage the country and provide essential services. The taxes are not to be wasted by illiterate politicians that believe 3% is majority when it comes to climate change. Science says humans contribution towards climate change is less than 3%. Look what happened 1815 with the eruption of Mount Tambora. There were no cars or trucks on the road, there were no factories, Earth's population was in millions and not in billions, yet the climate changed for a number of years after eruption in 1815. after eruption. And there was no summer to speak of in northern hemisphere. The reason politicians are talking about the future is; they do not understand present and hope that we will forget past. Climate will be changing as it has been since year dot. No country today is the same as in 5000 years ago and no country will be the same in 5000 years time. Lets get the politicians to commit to look after our taxes, stop wasting money that has been collected, protect our borders, Politicians do not need overseas study, everything they need ask Mrs Google, she knows everything. Travel by plane, must be economy, they can pay business or first class out of their pocket. Tail end of an aircraft gets to the destination only a second after the first or business class sections. How can the politicians justify taxpayers paying $1,100.00 approximately for one-way business class flight from Sydney to Canberra? Are they a normal? Politicians should not and must not punish those that worked hard, went without, as they were saving for their retirement, and reward those that have never worked, never paid taxes. This is discrimination against the taxpayer. However it is legal. All retirees and all people in nursing homes should have free medical, free dental, free optical as they genuinely deserve it, they worked for it by working for most of their life and paying taxes. 

Colleen
Colleen from NSW replied to Tony:

Well said Tony we too have worked hard and are now retired how long is our super going to last if it is not earning any money and the cost of living is escalating. I had a job with a company for 16 years and part of that was traveling on a budget which most companies do why cant our polies do it too. 

Tony
Tony from NSW replied to Colleen:

Colleen, are you aware that the criminals are better looked after than our elderly and retired people. In Gaol, you have free medical, hospital, dental and optical, and taxpayer funded sex change, free board, electricity, water, rates, three square meals a day, television, clothing, footwear, gym, art classes, studies and many other things paid by the taxpayers. The politicians a behaving like our masters, even though they are pledging to serve the country and its people when being sworn in. They are serving the pensioners and elderly in similar fashion that bull services the cow. 

Gael
Gael from NSW commented:

Leave it alone we the average Aussie that worked hard no politicians pensions so mainly the retired people are the people that went to work at 15 plenty jobs then not now a lot of physical work bodies are broken reason we worked so hard was to give our children a better start in life so the family home which is all I have to leave no cash I don't want that taken away Scott Morrison did a great job as immigration minister as to stopping the boats and that happened and kept us informed on his weekly time on 2gb and now M Turnbull wants to make changes to the border the old way is working so let it stay leave the older aussies who worked alone and hit the people who have bludged all their lives never saved live in public housing and the refugees who come here and never work the ones that do I applaud them 

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