Many in retirement are travelling comfortably, with three key factors contributing to their happiness – good physical and mental health and enough money to enjoy life.
Perhaps the assumption that markets are still anchored by predictable economic policies needs to be challenged. For the first time since the fall of the Berlin Wall, political volatility – once background noise – is potentially reshaping investment risk at a structural level.
Exempt employment income from age pension income test: NSA
Senior Australians should have any employment income exempted from the age pension income test to simplify the pension system and encourage more older people to remain in the workforce if they need or want to.
That’s a key recommendation of the National Seniors Association (NSA) in its pre-Budget submission that chef executive officer Chris Grice says is an important element of the organisation’s lobbying of all political parties before the May 3 federal election. With one-third of voters aged 60 and over, their votes will be critical in the upcoming poll.
Grice says the ABS figures show 329,900 job vacancies. In some key sectors, such as healthcare and social assistance, job vacancies remain stubbornly high (60,900 or 18 per cent of total vacancies).
“The current pension rules discourage older people from remaining in the workforce, with only 3.3 per cent of people on the age pension declaring earnings from employment.
“In addition, age pension recipients lose 50 cents in the dollar from their pension if they work more than the rules allow. This discourages some people from working past the pension age, undermining the retention of mature and skilled workers at a time of high labour force demand.”
Grice says the age pension rules are complex and confusing and cause many to not work or to work in the black economy to avoid impacting their pension. Yet Deloitte Access Economics estimates a five per cent increase in older worker participation (over 55) would result in a $47.9 billion increase to GDP.”
Other policy initiatives the NSA wants the incoming government to adopt include:
- Create an Australia Post bank for regional and rural Australia.
- Increase the age pension by $10 a day for single pensioners and $15 a day for pensioner couples.
- Continue freezing deeming rates while interest rates remain high and use this time to create a fair and transparent method for calculating future deeming rates.
- Create a targeted Seniors Dental Benefits Scheme to help seniors access essential dental care.
- Create targeted incentives to encourage retail investment in affordable housing for older Australians.
Grice agrees that cost-of-living pressures – and which political party is perceived as having the most viable policies to tackle this issue – will be a prime determinant in how they cast their vote. As he says, “cost-of-living pressures remain high, even as headline inflation declines. These pressures are felt most by those with limited means who struggle most with cost-of-living increases.”
Polling commissioned by the senior advocacy organisation, COTA Australia, would support Grice’s argument. It found that older people rank the cost of groceries and other day-to-day expenses, energy bills and other utility bills and healthcare and medicines as the top three issues that will affect how they vote in the election.
COTA Australia chief executive Patricia Sparrow says the polling should act as a wake-up call to politicians before the election.
“We know cost-of-living pressures are hurting people of all ages, and older people are no different. The top three issues older voters will have on their minds when they’re standing at the ballot box are all cost-of-living-related.”
She adds that seniors want to see action to address ageism, with six in 10 people saying Australia needs a national plan to support an ageing Australia and tackle ageism.
“Ageism impacts everyone. It locks people out of work, and it impacts our healthcare. The obvious impacts are on the people experiencing ageism themselves, but the flow-on effects impact all of us.
“The polling found that 30 per cent of participants say they have experienced ageism in the past five years. That increases to 40 per cent of older Australians who are in serious financial difficulty. This is a very worrying statistic that our politicians can’t afford to ignore.”
In its election agenda – it has been sent to all political parties – COTA Australia also calls for action to protect people against scams and for wait times for people waiting for aged care support at home to be reduced to no longer than 30 days.
“Our agenda is practical and achievable list of some of the key issues facing older people that need urgent action. Every election is important, but this one is especially important for shaping how we as a country support our ageing population,” she says.
