Reality vs Bubble

[Bob]

When old age pensions were first brought in (at 65), the average worker lived until 68 . . . . . they were paid, on average, only 3 years old age pension.

If old age pensions had been indexed to life expectancy, instead of being fixed at 65, then we would all be getting the old age pension now at 77 years of age . . . . not 65 or 67.

The worker nowadays wants an ever increasing life on the old age pension. . . . . . at taxpayers expense.

It is great to live 13 or 15 years of your life on a government pension, but since there's no such thing as a free lunch, who pays for it all? . . . . . obviously the Australian taxpayer.

O.K. . . . . . . so, you keep the pension age at 67. What are the implications?

Raising income tax another 5c or 10c in the dollar to pay for the increased number of old age pensioners between the age of 67 and 70?

Raising GST another 5% perhaps, increasing it from 10% to 15% to help the pensions?

There are no easy options.

You have to choose one, unfortunately, and the government of the day doesn't want to lumber your kids with extra income tax to pay for getting your old age pension as early as 67 instead of at 70.

That is the tough option that the Australian gov't has chosen, choosing to only pay 10 years instead of 13 years to the average pensioner to save on tax.

The workers who complain about having to work till 70 until getting the pension would scream even louder if they had to pay an extra 5c or 10c in the dollar out of their pay-packet all their working life.