October 2022
21Oct

Individual Investors’ Housing Income and Interest Rates Fluctuations

By Antonio Gargano & Marco Giacoletti Little is known about the participation of small individual landlords in the rental market, and about rental income earned by households. Using unique tax filings data from Australia, we show that 20% of middle and retirement age median-income individuals are landlords. This fraction has risen over the last 20 years, increasing by 80% for the retirement age group. We provide evidence linking this change to cuts in interest rates, which have led older individuals...

October 21, 2022
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13Oct

Australia must urgently fix pensions gender gap

Australia must urgently address the pensions gender gap in the upcoming federal budget, warns a body representing the nation’s A$3.3 trillion (US$2.1 trillion or RM9.84 trillion) of retirement savings. The government needs to make swift reforms to an industry that currently leaves retired Australian women with typically 23.1% less in their pension accounts than men, according to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA). Pension payments should be made to workers on paid parental leave following the birth or adoption...

October 13, 2022
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September 2022
19Sep

Australia. Millions to get cash boost

Millions of Australians are in for a welcome boost on Tuesday, with Centrelink payments set to rise in response to growing inflation. Centrelink payments will increase on Tuesday for millions of Australians as an indexation increase to match cost of living pressure kicks in. The payment increase is set to be the biggest in 30 years and will benefit aged pensioners, disability support pensioners, carers and those on JobSeeker and Rent Assistance among others. Single parents will receive an extra $35.20 per...

September 19, 2022
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01Sep

Australia. Pensioners re-entering workforce would make a ‘tangible difference’

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor has discussed various solutions to Australia’s labour shortage as the Jobs and Skills summit kicks off in Canberra today. “We put a very practical suggestion, a tangible outcome that we get pensioners and veterans – give them an incentive to do more work without losing their pensions,” Mr Taylor told Sky News Australia. “There is enough pensioners and veterans out there who want to do extra work that it would make a tangible difference. “We have heard crickets...

September 1, 2022
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August 2022
23Aug

Australia’s Pensions Suffer Worst Year Since Financial Crisis

Australia’s pensions posted their worst annual performance since the global financial crisis as markets were roiled by central banks’ aggressive rate hikes and the war in Ukraine. Read also Should Pension Funds ‘Invest’ in Crypto? Guardians of the world’s fifth largest pension pot shed A$92.8 billion ($64 billion) on investments in the fiscal year through June 30, the biggest loss for the period since 2009, according to Australian Prudential Regulation Authority data released Tuesday. That saw the pool of savings fall...

August 23, 2022
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16Aug

Tough Times Ahead Warns CEO of Australia’s Largest Pension Fund

Consumers and businesses will continue to struggle as global policy makers battle to get inflation under control, the head of Australia’s largest pension fund told a media forum. “Our view is that there are some pretty tough times ahead,” Paul Schroder, chief executive officer of the A$260 billion ($182 billion) AustralianSuper Pty, said on Tuesday. “We think we are in a continually tight environment. The question now is what is the rate of that tightening and is there a pivot around...

August 16, 2022
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08Aug

Australia is a nation of ‘accidental investors’. Is it time for more scrutiny of the superannuation system?

Margaret Thatcher sought to convert Britain from a nation of shopkeepers to one of shareholders. Compulsory superannuation and low rates – until recently – on traditional bank deposits have converted most Australians into accidental investors. Beginning in the 1980s, retirement arrangements changed from defined benefits (an inflation-indexed pension based on your final salary, paid by employers or government in return for regular contributions) to defined contribution schemes (at retirement you receive your and the employer’s payments, plus investment returns). Today, Australian...

August 8, 2022
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July 2022
13Jul

Australia’s biggest pension fund braces for prolonged slowdown

Australia’s largest pension fund sees the global economy struggling for about two more years as businesses and households adjust to tighter monetary and fiscal policies. Investors have been conditioned to think that market pullbacks are a short-term phenomenon but the current crisis is different, according to Mark Delaney, chief investment officer of the A$260bn ($175bn) pension giant AustralianSuper Pty. “It takes 12 months to two years for tighter monetary policy to impact on the economy – and monetary policy is just...

July 13, 2022
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June 2022
17Jun

Aussie aged pensioners call for opportunity to work more hours

A growing number of Aussie seniors still working after retirement age are calling for the opportunity to work more hours without being penalised for it. A group of pensioners have told A Current Affair they're willing to help fill Australia's labour void, but the problem is that if they work too many hours, it will affect their pension. "If I work an hour over my 30 hours a fortnight, it changes my pension quite a bit," dementia specialist and senior Betty...

June 17, 2022
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May 2022
16May

Australia. Pensioners hit hard by living cost increases

Annual increases in living costs have continued to rise, with age pensioner households experiencing a annual spike of about five per cent in living costs, according to new Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] data. According to the ABS data, the annual increase in living costs to the March 2022 quarter for employee households (households whose principal source of income is from wages and salaries) was 3.8 per cent. However, the annual rise in living costs for age pensioner households (households whose...

May 16, 2022
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