POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
ASFA claims Grattan attacking ordinary Australians
The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) has joined the dissenters to the Grattan Institute’s retirement report, released yesterday, slamming it as “an unprecedented attack on the retirement aspirations of ordinary Australians”.
The report recommended postponing the increase of the Superannuation Guarantee to 12 per cent, taxing earnings in retirement at 15 per cent, and changing the Age Pension assets test to include the value of a home above a certain threshold.
It also suggested that the belief of industry groups that Australians would not have enough for retirement was misplaced.
ASFA hit out as these suggestions as intended to dismantle the current superannuation system and replace it with a model that would have two-thirds of the population reliant on the Age Pension.
“This report is about two Australias, where the well-heeled high earners have a fully funded retirement and the rest rely on the state,” ASFA chief executive, Dr Martin Fahy, said.
“In a world where there are broken work patterns, and where women’s balances are 40 per cent less than men, Grattan wants to leave large parts of our society exposed to poverty in retirement. That would be a world where only the few can afford health insurance and where retirement is a dreary replay of the 1950s.”
The Association said that the Grattan analysis set “an extremely low bar for adequacy” in retirement income, when in reality “the great bulk of Australians want and need a retirement lifestyle in line with the ASFA comfortable level”.
It warned that the ratio of workers to retirees would halve from around 4.5 people today to 2.7 in 2055 and that, without superannuation, hitting a comfortable retirement level would be untenable then.
Recommended for you
Super funds had a “tremendous month” in November, according to new data.
Australia faces a decade of deficits, with the sum of deficits over the next four years expected to overshoot forecasts by $21.8 billion.
APRA has raised an alarm about gaps in how superannuation trustees are managing the risks associated with unlisted assets, after releasing the findings of its latest review.
Compared to how funds were allocated to March this year, industry super funds have slightly decreased their allocation to infrastructure in the six months to September – dropping from 11 per cent to 10.6 per cent, according to the latest APRA data.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
Spire Oaktree Opportunities XI Second Close
61.07 3 y p.a(%)
2
Spire Oaktree Opportunities XI First Close USD
59.21 3 y p.a(%)
3
DomaCom Lot 21 Chellaston Road Munno Para West SA 5115 Australia
31.73 3 y p.a(%)
4
Fidante Credit Suisse Global Private Equity
30.15 3 y p.a(%)
5
DomaCom 4/27 Crombie Avenue Bundall QLD 4217 Australia
26.71 3 y p.a(%)
