5 April

The Association of Australian Super Funds (ASFA) have updated their estimates for levels of super needed for different retirement lifestyle goals. Quite large jumps, reflecting increased inflation across all parts of life. This is the latest targets for people who want to reach the top ‘comfortable’ band, how much they should have roughly at age 67 (if they own their own home, you need much more otherwise). These retirement balances make the elderly richer than ordinary working people, carrying the major burden of keeping a country’s lights on and raising the next generation. And far, far in advance of the young. That’s a profound shift to our entire culture. A massive siphoning off of wealth towards the old. Or deeper, a shift to understanding life as a permanent ‘lifestyle’, rather than as a social circle of life, focused on raising new generations. If you want to know why societies can’t seem to afford to keep their basic infrastructure maintained, here’s why. That wealth is going towards individual lifestyles. For example the fights over Council rates - when you look at the numbers, the average resident spends FAR more on their lifestyle, than on their shared collective infrastructure. Towns, cities and nations are now just tourist resorts for lifestyle individuals, who offer their complaints and reviews through social media.