November 2019

05Nov

Australia. Call to cut tax breaks for rich retirees

The government should look to trim generous tax concessions for wealthy superannuation savers, worth more than $36bn a year, rather than aim to include the family home in the pension assets test, according to the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association. CPSA policy manager Paul Versteege said the family home should not be included in the asset test because “the vast majority of people live in a modest house”. The Australian on Monday revealed more than 250,000 retirees living in...

November 5, 2019
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October 2019

21Oct

Sistema de pensiones de México en los peores lugares del mundo: Índice Mercer

De acuerdo con el índice global de pensiones Mercer, México ocupa uno de los últimos lugares entre los sistemas de pensiones alrededor del mundo, la 5ª calificación más baja de los 37 evaluados. Éste índice, calculado por el centro de Estudios Financieros Monash, en colaboración con Mercer y fondeado por el Gobierno de Victoria (Australia), evalúa la sostenibilidad, la adecuación (suficiencia de las pensiones), y la integridad de los sistemas de pensiones y, con base en estos...

October 21, 2019
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18Oct

Effects of Taxes and Safety Net Pensions on Life-Cycle Labor Supply, Savings and Human Capital: The Case of Australia

By Michael P. Keane, Fedor Iskhakov In this paper we structurally estimate a life-cycle model of consumption/savings, labor supply and retirement, using data from the Australian HILDA panel. We use the model to evaluate effects of the Australian aged pension system and tax policy on labor supply, consumption and retirement decisions. Our model accounts for human capital accumulation via learning by doing, as well as wealth accumulation and decumulation over the life cycle, uninsurable wage risk, credit constraints, a...

October 18, 2019
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16Oct

Australia. Radical changes ahead for defined contribution

Shifts for the DC organisation of tomorrow – shows that DC is increasingly becoming a post-retirement income provision vehicle, with integrated accumulation phases matched to post-retirement consumption needs. The report calls this “DC 2.0”. “The need for change has been clear for a long time. Even 10 years ago, we were talking of a version 2.0 of DC that was built around the purpose of providing income throughout retirement,” said Bob Collie, head of research at the Thinking...

October 16, 2019
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September 2019

30Sep

Australia. A simpler system would be super

In the past year, reports by the Productivity Commission and the banking and financial services royal commission have prompted intense and commendable consideration about the direction of Australia’s retirement and savings policies. Superannuation should not be as cruelly complex as it is. While the system’s basic concept is elegant – providing workers with a compulsory employer-paid super contribution equivalent to at least 9.5 per cent of salary – the confounding rules, layers of costs, tax benefits and snags are...

September 30, 2019
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27Sep

Australia. Super and pension budget measures in firing line of retirement review

The next increase in compulsory superannuation and a string of budget savings measures that have crimped retirees' incomes will be investigated in the first comprehensive review of the nation's retirement income system in 30 years. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Friday released the terms of reference for the inquiry, which will cover the age pension, voluntary savings including the family home, aged-care funding, franking credits and the role of the powerful $2.9 trillion superannuation industry. The wide-ranging review would examine...

September 27, 2019
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10Sep

Australian pension funds’ $168bln ‘wall of cash’ may lead overseas

Australian pension funds are sitting on a A$245 billion ($167.38 billion) 'wall of money' that will probably flow overseas because of a lack of domestic options, asset managers say. Thanks to Australian laws requiring employers to contribute at least 9% of a worker's salary to a pension, superannuation funds, as they are known locally, are the world's third-largest pool of pension assets, worth about $1.9 trillion. The Australian stock market is worth only $1 trillion. The nearly 2:1 ratio...

September 10, 2019
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06Sep

It’s Going to Get Harder for Australian Pension Funds to Make Money

Australia’s pension funds will be forced to push more money into less traditional assets -- such as apartment developments and even direct lending to companies -- after the strong recent performance of equities and fixed-income left valuations lofty in public markets. That’s the assessment of investors managing money directly for, or on behalf of, the country’s A$2.9 trillion ($2 trillion) pension pool, who gathered in Hobart this week. With four out of five retirement savers in funds that have a...

September 6, 2019
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August 2019

19Aug

Australia warns retirees over heavily investing in cryptocurrency self-managed pensions

Australia warns retirees over heavily investing in cryptocurrency self-managed pensions The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has issued 18,000 warning letters to investors of self-managed super funds (SMSFs) for concentrating the majority of their retirement savings in cryptocurrencies, according to local news outlet Micky. In its letter, the office said that retirees have a “duty to comply with legal requirements to adopt investment strategies avoiding risky investments.” Non-compliance could see them face a fine of up to AU$2,400 (US$2,852). As...

August 19, 2019
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19Aug

Baby boomers win ‘the demographic lottery’ as wealth inequality grows

Young Australians are being locked out of a "generational bargain" as the wealth gap between children and their parents soars, new figures show, as the government prepares the terms of reference for its landmark retirement income review. The review, recommended by the banking royal commission, is likely to dominate the government's agenda next year as Treasurer Josh Frydenberg draft the terms of reference for the all-encompassing inquiry into pensions, superannuation, aged care funding, housing and the equity of taxpayer...

August 19, 2019
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