There's nothing like watching a room full of Australians discuss their complex and ever-changing superannuation regime to make you feel good about your own.
I enjoyed being a fly on the wall at a Post-Retirement conference in Australia last week. You always learn something from these conferences because Australia has had 23 years of compulsory superannuation whereas KiwiSaver is still a spring chicken in its eighth year. I was pleasantly surprised to find most of the lessons were about future problems we might be able to avoid.
Australia has a two-tier retirement system a bit like ours. There is compulsory superannuation where employees pay 9.5 per cent of their earnings into a super fund and there is a "safety net" age pension which is means tested and ensures a minimum retirement income.
Over the years, Australia's regime has become quite complex, resulting in a massive financial services industry helping people understand superannuation and all its nuances. There are tax complexities and you can have more than one superannuation fund (particularly if you have changed jobs) so knowing your overall position can be difficult.
Many super funds have features such as insurance and annuities which, while well-intentioned, can be tricky to understand and often quite expensive. Every new government in Australia seems unable to keep their mitts off superannuation so there has been continuous tinkering with tax rules, leaving members confused and in need of advice.