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Comment by Gigachad | Hacker News Reader

At least in Australia they will be fine. 11% of your income is taken before you receive it and put in to retirement funds. It’s also taxed at a much lower rate.

To end up at retirement age without any savings accumulated, you’d have to either have been unemployed for your whole life, or run a business/be self employed and never make any contributions to retirement savings.

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That's funny if you believe that money will still be there for you. That money is paying for those retired now. It's not like that money is in an account with your name on it. It's just a note in a ledger that says you're "owed" that money. Good luck collecting it. Truly.

Edit: missed the relevant Australian bit. makes a big difference to grok the full comment when deciding to reply to it

It literally is in an account with your name on it.

No, that's exactly how it works in Australia - a compulsory tax advantaged managed investment account for the individual. There is a separate social security-type (pension) scheme that may or may not still exist for future generations, but superannuation is very much your own asset.

That's the old system, I had a choice of staying with the "old" system or moving to the superannuation scheme. My older (read: then about to retire) colleagues told me I HAD TO move to the "new" system, as by the time they retired and took out their money, there would be no money left in the "old" system for me.

It is in an account with their name on it. If the government of Australia wanted to use the money for something, it would be the same as taking money from people's bank accounts.

It is a savings system, not taxation.

NZ has a similar (but shit in comparison) system.

The Australian system is one of the more sensible ones in the developed world. One could quibble about the details of implementation but I think many countries would do well to emulate it, including the US.

I worked for several years in OZ and amassed a 6 figure super. Thanks to the greedy super fund companies and several economic downturns,that 6 figure sum is now 5 figures. Sigh.

If you're never coming back, you can get it out. You should contact your fund.

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