Have to agree, Paul, although I am still deciding whether to claim it.
Have a friend who is a self-made multi-millionaire, but with a bit of 'creative, accounting and a the support of a 'helpful' Accountant he gets full pension. His thoughts are that after paying millions in tax, and providing employment to many, he deserves it.
Hard to argue against that, but there certainly is no 'need' for him to claim it.
After seeing some of the rorts among recipients, nothing surprises me.
Weekly payment doesn't even cover going to dinner and drinks at a flash restaurant for my mate. Cheers
What I think is wrong is that it does not have an income bank component based on the tax that has been paid during your working life. The more you put into the system over your lifetime the higher the pension. If you have been a long term dole bludger and have negative input (Centrelink paid more out than you put in with tax), why should you get the same as those who have worked hard all their lives. In fact the dole bludger probably gets more because the person who worked all those years has accumulated some assets and then the assets test comes into play.
I am not suggestiing giving it to wealthy people. I am thinking more of the person who does not have enough to be self sufficient. But there are too many who choose not working as a lifestyle. I am sure we all know people that fall into that category.
I retired 8 years ago and we havent recieved a thing from the govt.in that time. Recently on advise from our financial advisor we moved enough assets to allow us to claim for a part pension. The thing is we didnt want any money from them all we wanted were some of the benefits that pensioners get like discounted water rates, land rates , prescriptions, electricity and water rates, drivers licences . registrations etc. Maybe they should start looking at what self funded retirees get for paying the same taxes all of their working lives.
BB
-- Edited by The Belmont Bear on Tuesday 26th of September 2023 09:47:34 PM
That insinuates pensioners haven't worked hard. Maybe I see that as elitist or naïve.
Got an old friend, he's now 82yo, a builder all his life. In 2007 at 66yo he finally retired and invested his superannuation where his financial advisor suggested.. Nevertheless a year or so later and $400,000 got wiped out with the Global Financial Crisis. He worked hard.
Got another friend that 2 of her 3 kids had a rare disorder. A dead beat dad, when he left, never contributed towards child support as he could allocate near zero personal income from his company and heaps to his new wife. So she was stuck in a low income rental accommodation on a pension. She worked part time in a supermarket during school hours and saved enough to buy tickets to USA for specialist care for her 2 sons. Now many years later that father of her children sold his successful factory business for millions but the kids are grown up. She gets the old age pension. She worked hard.
Finally, got a friend that worked 12 hour shift work + 2 part time jobs and paid his child support to his narcissistic ex wife which was 27% of his gross pay (not net). His ex got 70% of the assets and a portion of his super as she had custody of the children. At 40yo he lived in a 11ft caravan in a caravan park. But to his credit he bought a block of land, stopped working the 2 part time jobs and built his own house. But at 56yo fell in a heap and told "you'll never work again" after a suicide attempt. He went on disability pension. He works voluntary work up to 15 hours a week for the mentally ill when he can to prevent suicide and talk to the distressed. He received the Governor General medallion for his work. 3 years ago (him at 64yo)his 2nd wife suggested to get ahead to build their own home. She did everything except lifting and heavy stuff. They succeeded in zero debts and occasionally go caravanning. That guy is me... and I worked really hard and likely paid more taxes than many.
Those not self funded retirees collecting a pension... you never know how hard they worked...
Tony
__________________
Be nice... if I wanted my school teacher here I would have invited him...
If you have paid off your home you can live like a king. I've worked the equivalent of two jobs all my life, just a mechanic, my wife is still working 2-3 days a week, shop assistant, i'm on part pension, bit of super and own my home in Sydney, I feel lucky! Just bought a new Pathy to tow the van. What more do you want.
Wazza..
-- Edited by Bulldozer on Saturday 30th of September 2023 01:20:31 PM
