* In a messge originally to All, Bob Lawrence said: 

BL> Hi all,
BL>        a year ago when Mum went into the Nursing Home, I lost my
BL> carer's allowance. The $42.50 a week meant I had to give up my 
bottle
BL> of Glenfiddich (actually, not) or learn to live in mince, pasta and
BL> dry biscuits (I've got ten recipes if you're interested, so I applied
BL> for the dole (not that I had an optimist's hope in Hell of getting any
BL> money). Fat-Mandy Vanstone was the Minister at the time, and for 
a

Bob,

You can understand why the government wants people to work past 
65 - these days, Australia's population is aging, there is a (future) 
shrinking working age base to support people in their old age who 
haven't budgeted for self retirement. Of course, you'll get people who 
say that they deserve the pension & that 40 years ago there was no 
need to budget for superannuation. This is an argument I don't hold 
with, my father retired 12 years ago (self funded) & had been 
contributing to a super fund all his working life. 

Back when I started work (1980) he drummmed into me how important 
it was to contribute to a super fund & not to rely on the fact that the 
govt would always provide a pension.

Now, 24 years later, I'm glad i listened to him. I'll be retiring in 16 years 
when I hit 55. My budget allows for a wage only a little below what I'm 
currently earning for around 35 years - longer if I wish to accept a 
payout each week of a little less.

No govt pension for me, nor most of the people I know & that is a good 
thing for the australian tax-paying public - one less person that needs 
to be supported in retirement.

As for older people not getting jobs - not quite true. In my job (Telstra), 
the most recent intake of new employees saw people ranging from 18 
to 57 commence work.

It all depends where you look I guess.

cheers,

Lance
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