Robert’s difficulty in discerning his Arthur from his Martha
Outsider wonders whether our shiny new Assistant Treasurer, Stuart Robert knows his Arthurs from his Marthas.
Why? You ask. Because on one day the redoubtable Robert told a superannuation forum about “Rachel” the woman who started out her working life with a part-time job and ended up working four jobs over her career accruing four super accounts and paying fees and insurance premiums on each, eroding her inactive accounts, meaning her balance at retirement was $397,000 when it might otherwise have been $454,000.
A day later, the redoubtable Robert was telling a Financial Services Council breakfast about Liam who, remarkably, had precisely the same experience with his superannuation, all of which will be addressed if and when the Government manages to secure passage of its “Protecting Your Super” reforms.
Now, Outsider happens to know that men and women have very different outcomes when it comes to superannuation and so he is wondering whether the Assistant Treasurer’s advisory team were being a little slack when they were doing the “cut and paste”.
Of course, the nature of the internet connection in the minister’s office may have been such that they were struggling for band-width but a quick google search of relative superannuation outcomes would have told them that the Liams of this world have tended to do better than the Rachels where ultimate account balances are concerned.
It is all probably irrelevant anyway because with the clock ticking down towards Christmas and with an election in the offing, Outsider suspects it doesn’t matter whether the redoubtable Robert knows his Arthurs from his Marthas let alone his Rachels from his Liams.
AUTHOR
The Outsider
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