The Productivity Commission was only permitted to examine the efficiency of the super system. A quarter of a century on, it’s time to examine the design of the system and who it helps and hurts.
We find it hard to read forms and to understand risk, so we stick with what we know.
Shutterstock
The Conversation played host to really important new ideas in 2018. Some will take years to develop. Others will never come to fruition. But they’re important.
Why not give bankers conditional bonuses, paid out only after they have retired scandal-free?
Shuttertock
Brendan O'Connor on Labor’s industrial relations agenda
CC BY43,8 MB(download)
O'Connor says Labor remains totally opposed to the government's Ensuring Integrity legislation, which the Coalition wants to resurrect. "I can't see this bill in any way being salvageable."
As the dream of home ownership eludes more and more older Australians, this has big implications for retirement, pensions and government spending on rental assistance.
Billion Photos/Shutterstock
Until now most people have eventually owned a home. But two trends – falling ownership and a growing aged population – will put the budgets of retirees and government under real pressure.
Labor’s plan to pay super to women on paid parental leave would barely boost their retirement incomes.
Shutterstock
Bill Shorten says Labor’s plan to make super contributions on behalf of women on paid parental leave would have a “big impact”. We find its impact would be be minuscule.
There’s still money to be made steering people into bad products.
Shutterstock
Instead of matching long-term pension liabilities to long-term investments, investment markets fixate on short-term liquidity. A new approach is needed.
Tax rules baked into superannuation favour those on low and high incomes.
Shutterstock
Despite recent reforms, the superannuation system is still beset with problems such as high fees and patchy performance. You need to pay attention if you want to make sure your nest egg’s in the best hands.
Currently, the employer nominates a fund which people are defaulted into if they don’t make a choice.
If a superannuation fund member is at a workplace where a lot of colleagues make changes to their investment strategy, it becomes significantly more likely that they themselves will make a change.