August 29, 2013
Flexi super to penalise Maori
There’s alarm that a flexible superannuation scheme proposed by United Future leader Peter Dunne could end up with many Maori and Pasifika people getting lower pensions.
The former revenue minister is suggesting people start collecting super any time between when they turn 60 and when they reach 70, getting a higher rate the later they join.
Economist Susan St John from Auckland University’s Retirement Policy and Research Centre says it would be a mistake for populations with lower average life expectancy such as Maori and Pasifika to view access to early retirement under the scheme as a good thing, because it would lock them into a lower income.
Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia agrees the age of entitlement should be lowered in some cases, but not at a lower rate.
She says many Maori have been low income earners all their lives, so in retirement the pension is their only income.
Currently life expectancy for Maori men is 72.8 and for Maori women 76.5 compared to non-Maori men 80.2 and non-Maori women 83.7.
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