Why is Africa so saddled with ageing presidents who ought to be enjoying their retirement in peace when the continent desperately needs young, agile and innovative leaders equal to its challenges?
In a system where the age pension is designed to be needs-based, a strong asset test seems like an appropriate tax on the practice of bequeathing assets like superannuation to the next generation.
Hal Kendig, Australian National University and Andrew Podger, Australian National University
The government has dropped plans to index age pensions to CPI and opted instead to tighten income and assets test. These are welcome changes but more needs to be done.
Part-pensioner couples who own their own home and assets worth more than about A$800,000 are expected to lose their part-pension altogether, under proposals in the federal budget.
It took about a decade to construct the cross-party consensus, and the support of trade unions and employers, that made automatic enrolment into private pension schemes a realistic prospect. The achievement…
Taxpayers in Britain spend more than £1 billion a year providing free bus travel. Mostly used by pensioners, some disabled people qualify for this concessionary travel, and there are fears that an austerity-driven…