Kerre Woodham: What is fair?

For some New Zealanders, it's the difference between living with dignity or living on handouts. For other Kiwis, it's a bit of pin money that pays for the grandkids swimming lessons or is handed on to a favorite charity.

The National Super is back in the news, with economist Shamubeel Eaqub calling for the Super to be means tested, and for the age of eligibility to be raised to 70. The cost of the Super right now is $55.7 billion, in a year.

That's as much as we spend on the education budget.

That figure is only going to rise as an extra 1 million New Zealanders hit pension age over the next 50 years. As the French riot over the very suggestion that their retirement age should rise to 64 -quelle horreur! We haven't rioted yet, but it does get people's passions up when we talk about raising the age of the National Super.  

So what's fair? What's right? Shamubeel Eaqub is saying look, it needs to be means tested. There is absolutely no reason why wealthy people already living comfortably need taxpayers to pay them a pension.

They have enough.

They want the age of eligibility, he wants the age of eligibility to be raised to 70. I think that would be fine. If you've worked a desk job like me all your life, or if you've had it, you know, relatively comfortable all your life.

If you've been clambering up ladders or crawling under houses or cleaning 15 floor buildings, lugging heavy carts around, I think 70 is way too old to expect you to keep going towards them.

So maybe what's fair is that Susan Saint John's policy whereby you get taxed. If you're already earning enough, you'll get taxed. If you're not earning enough, you won't.

So that makes it fair.

I think the days of saying, look, I've paid for this, I paid taxes all my life and I deserve it at the end, are over. Taxes have come down. In the olden days, when people were paying 50-7 cents $0.63 in the dollar, sure. You know these days, there is no universal benefit other than the Super.

But what is the point? Of some people getting it as a bit of PIN money, when there are those who are in real need, who could do with those dollars?

What is fair? What is right? What is just?

What do you do with the pension? Do you need it to live on? Or is it just nice to have?

If you're in your 20s or 30s, when you think about retirement, if. You think about it at all. You know, retirement comes sooner rather than later. One minute you're faffing along in your 20s, thinking you'll never be old, and the next thing ****** me, I am so.

If you haven't thought about retirement, it'd be a good, good idea to do so.

Do you believe there'll be a taxpayer funded super for the day you hang up your tools?

For the day you turn 65.

Or are you planning on looking after yourself as best you can?

Come the day when the alarm clock no longer rings. And you can look forward to retirement. 

 

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