This 78-year-old started paying tax at age 16, plus paid 5% of salary into state govt superannuation. We used to gripe back then that we would not get any government age pension as our super would preclude us from that benefit we felt we were paying for in our tax. By becoming self-funded retirees we relieve the federal government of providing a benefit (age pension) we feel we have already paid for.
I feel younger generations do not fully appreciate the superannation and tax provisions that applied to older generations, when the rules were different. And isn't that the rub? - that the rules keep changing so that one era cannot be compared directly against another.
Cantankerous james
