‘Incessant tinkering’ with super a blow to confidence
One financial adviser has hit out at the government’s decision to delay the superannuation guarantee increase, saying it reinforces the uncertainty around superannuation for clients’ retirement planning.
Speaking to SMSF Adviser, Quantum Financial Principal Tim Mackay said the government should stop continually making changes to superannuation.
“Politicians of either flavour should just give up their addiction to incessant tinkering with superannuation,” Mr Mackay said.
“Many of my clients still remember John Howard promising SG would go to 15 per cent.”
Similarly, the SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia (SPAA) said this latest decision works to undermine the public’s confidence in the superannuation system.
“By linking the abolition of the mining tax with the decision to freeze the SG for seven years, the government is again demonstrating that dipping into the superannuation ‘piggy bank’ is always an option when difficult fiscal decisions have to be made,” said SPAA’s chief executive Andrea Slattery.
“SPAA was critical of the Budget announcement in May to delay the SG levy until 2018, and now Australians will suffer a further blow to their rightful ambitions to be self-sufficient in retirement.”
Ms Slattery also said the SG delay highlights the need for superannuation to be removed from the short-term policy cycle.
“In its submission to the Financial System Inquiry, SPAA recommended that major superannuation policy decisions be removed from the annual budget cycle and instead be subject to a five-year review as part of the intergenerational report. In light of this decision, the acceptance of that recommendation is more imperative than ever,” she said.
