The accuracy of the content is not guaranteed. Please rely only on the authorised document. ASFA – The Voice of Super welcomes Mr Costello's acknowledgment that superannuation needs to be reviewed and simplified, but strongly urges The Treasurer to commence the review sooner rather than later. "The Treasurer is to be applauded for publicly recognising the need for reform in superannuation, but putting it off until "somewhere down the track" would be a mistake," said Philippa Smith, CEO of ASFA. "Any policy changes need a start-up time, and improved savings need a few years to have a significant effect." "The new marginal tax rates further squeeze the incentives for saving through super, and this increases the urgency." "The political and economic reality is that a significant proportion of the population – more than at any other time in Australia's history - will be retiring in the next 20 to 30 years, starting now. It will be too late to wake up and realise that the combined costs of the age pension and health care has doubled to over 20% of GDP." "Many babyboomers are staring down the barrel of 20-plus years of a paltry retirement. Improved saving is needed now to avert this." "To encourage self-reliance there needs to be sufficient incentive for people to lock their money away. The complexity of the system is in itself a disincentive. The 9% Super Guarantee (to take effect in 2002) improves the situation but will not be adequate to meet likely needs and expectations." Ms Smith pointed out that the critical parameters of any review of superannuation must be:
"Any review needs to be a bipartisan one, and must include the key stakeholders. We need to build on the good features of what we already have, and develop public confidence and certainty." "The government is to be congratulated for its foresight in committing to a review, but it must also rise to the challenge of committing, and keeping to, a reasonable timetable," said Ms Smith.
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